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Porta all'Arco of Volterra
The Porta all'Arco is the most famous monument of Etruscan people, with over 3000 years.
Dating back to the period between the fifth and fourth centuries BC. , it is part of the city walls initially built by the Etruscans, then modified in the Middle Ages. Main access from the south side of the city, it is opposite the other Etruscan gate, Porta Diana, to the north.
Walls of this kind were demolished and rebuilt in the first half of the twelfth century.
Near the door you can find a plaque dating back to the Second World War. On June 30, 1944, Nazi soldiers threatened to blow up the Gate to prevent American tanks from entering the city.
On the arch there are three stone heads: on the three main elements of the arch (the keystone and the two shutter levels), the three sculpted heads represent Tinia, and the two protectors of the city, Uni and Menerva.
The arch was built with dry-laid tuff blocks. Its color is due to the use of three different types of rock: in the piers, in fact, we see an orange / yellow limestone; the arch, on the other hand, is made with a gray limestone cliff; finally the three sculpted heads are in reddish selagite.
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