Zoe Roettger ’27 discusses going on a weekend trip to Volterra while on OCS in Rome.
Over the weekend, my friend and I took two trains and multiple buses to reach the somewhat remote town of Volterra, which is located 3.5 hours outside of Rome in the province of Pisa. While the public transportation system turned out to be a bit complicated (regional buses can be tricky when you’ve never been to said region), the views from the bus made the journey well worth the climb.
We chose Volterra for its incredible alabaster craftsmanship, its Etruscan history, and—on a sillier note—its connection to the Twilight series. While the movies were filmed elsewhere, it was still quite amazing to physically explore a town that I first ‘learned about’ in a very fictional sense—an opportunity that I likely would not have had if not for OCS due to Volterra’s semi-remote nature.
Volterra’s primary focus, in both an academic and more touristy way, seemed to be on its alabaster workshops and products. In every gift store and most museums, we found something made from this material, from Roman cinerary urns at the Museo Etrusco Guarnacci to contemporary art at the Ecomuseo dell’Alabastro.
The alabaster workshops themselves were my favorite way to see these works of art. Volterra is a quite small mountaintop town, and in 36 hours, we were able to visit and revisit several spots, including the stores of active workshops. We also stumbled upon a workshop space that was open to public viewing when we were wandering down the smaller streets.
Overall, this trip, while brief, was a dream come true for my middle school self and an amazing trip for current me. I really enjoyed seeing more of the Italian countryside and objects from the Etruscan era that are still in situ—like an 4th–3rd century arch (BCE) that is still functioning today! I look forward to seeing more of Italy in the coming weeks, and I’ll remember this weekend for long after this OCS concludes.