CHAPTER THIRTY

THE SANCTUARY OF PYRGI

Maria Paola Baglione

T

he port and Etruscan sanctuary of Pyrgi were situated along the shore of the Tyrrhenian
Sea to the north of Rome, about 52 kilometers along the modern Via Aurelia, which
roughly traces the route of the Roman consular road. In the Etruscan period the coast
extended at least 70 meters beyond the modern coastline because of the greater depth
of sea level today, and the entire landscape was more articulated, rich in coastal lagoons
and watercourses that descended from the hills nearby inland, covered with forests where
several species of tall trees were growing, such as white fi rs, oaks, cypress, beech, remains
of which have been found in the excavations.
Located in one of the most beautiful spots on the coast north of Rome and still
relatively untouched, the district of Pyrgi is a large area in which are gathered diverse
archaeological sites. To the north there is an exceptional overlapping of settlement phases
that covers more than a millennium: on a small promontory stands the medieval castle of
Santa Severa, the earliest phase of which dates back to the tenth century ad. The castle
and its village overlies the Roman colonia maritima, founded around 268 bc to fortify
the coasts in anticipation of the fi rst Punic War. The massive “Pelasgian Walls,” large
polygonal blocks of limestone from the quarries of the neighboring Monti della Tolfa,
bordered the perimeter of the colony and even today are a formidable witness of Roman
building techniques of the Middle Republican era (Figure 30.2). In turn, the Roman
colony is superimposed on the Etruscan village, which occupied the headland behind the
Etruscan port. As seems clear from the erosion escarpment visible along the beach, the
Etruscan settlement was established around the second half/end of the seventh century bc
and, thanks to the stratigraphy preserved, it was possible to identify at least fi ve distinct
levels of occupation up to the Roman Republican period.
The excavations that led to the discovery of the monumental sanctuary began in 1957,
to the south of the castle. Under the direction of Massimo Pallottino, following the
discovery of architectural terracottas in a fi eld during agricultural work, this important
discovery allowed the great Etruscan expert to precisely defi ne the site where the shrine
of Eileithyia-Leucothea stood, the only Etruscan sanctuary that has been located precisely
from the Greek and Latin sources because it is linked to the main harbor of the Etruscan
city of Caere, the most important port facility in Tyrrhenian Etruria.