Some historical informations about Vetulonia.

Today Vetulonia's a small village, that dominates over the plain of Grosseto, occupied in etrurian age by the lake Prile, from the top of a hillock of 344 m.. Few are the historical sources.

Dionisio di Alicarnasso remembers Vetulonia as allied of the latins against Rome during the VII century B.C.. Silio Italico, in his work "Le Puniche", talks about the power symbols of Rome as originally from vetulonia: the curule chair, the lictorian fasces, the toga.

We owe the discovery of the exact location of the ancient etrurian city to Cav. Isidoro Falchi, who proved with his nineteenth-century-excavations as false the statements which wanted to situate Vetulonia in other places like: Viterbo, Vulci, Poggio Castiglione di Massa Marittima. So, after almost six centuries, with the royal decree of 1887, the village during the time known as Colonna di Buriano, became the ancient and legitimate name of Vetulonia.

The findings of the various excavating campaigns are noumerous: the tombs in the area of Poggio la Guardia, Poggio alle Birbe and Poggio al Bello Vedere are probably referable to the first village.
The big monumental tombs, made in "tholos" walling, like the "Tomba della Petrera" and the "Tomba del Diavolino", are of the second half of the VII century B.C.

Important to visit are also the "Scavi di Cittą" and the rest of the wall of "Arce".
Other existing works are the "Convento" and the fresco "Madonna delle Grazie", situated in the homonimous church. The Convento was the abbey of S. Bartolomeo di Sestinga, founded first on the hill of Badia Vecchia in the XI century, then transfered where today remains the rest of the important building, provided of corner-tower with round-arched entrance.

The fresco shows Madonna with the Child, and at the sides S. Fabiano Vescovo and S. Sebastiano Martire. It's attributable to the school of Siena. It seems that the autor was a pupil of the wel known Matteo di Giovanni.