- chapter 30: The sanctuary of Pyrgi –
Figure 30.3 Walls of the Roman colony in polygonal masonry. (Prepared by B. Belelli Marchesini).This systematic excavation has allowed us to investigate stratigraphically the largest
sanctuary of Etruria and to reconstruct the stages of its life, from its foundation to the
dismantling after the installation of the Roman colony around 270/268 bc, and the
consequent obliteration of the Etruscan sanctuary-center. Gradually, the team from the
University of Rome “La Sapienza,” under the guidance of Massimo Pallottino fi rst and
then Giovanni Colonna, have brought to light and restored to the heritage of our culture
an area crucial for the history of ancient Italy. Both the harbor and the sanctuary were well
known and frequented by ancient peoples who scoured the routes of the Mediterranean.
Greeks and Phoenicians were the fi rst, and certainly, beginning at the end of the sixth
century bc, the evidence gathered in the excavations allows us to affi rm that the great
emporium-sanctuary of Caere played the role of international sanctuary at the center of
the Mediterranean.
According to G. Colonna, the port of Pyrgi combined commercial functions with
those of a military arsenal; it is very likely that the fl eet that engaged in battle against
the Phocaeans of Alalia in the Sardinian Sea, that occurred circa 540 bc, was armed and
launched from Pyrgi itself, where the coastal lagoons could accommodate haulage basins.
The fortune of the port of Pyrgi was guaranteed by its special geological situation and
by the abundant supply of fresh water provided by a copious spring that fl ows from the
nearby hinterland, also used by the Roman colonists and active at least until the end of
the eighteenth century of our era.
The mother-city, Caere, located inland 13 kilometers to the east, attached particular
importance to its connections with its main port: to this end it arranged to construct a
broad roadway, 10.4 meters wide, completely paved, which in an almost straight course
linked the port to the city, replicating the proven system used in Athens-Piraeus. This
exceptional piece of engineering followed a path already defi ned during the second
half of the seventh century bc; exiting Caere the road passed between the great
Orientalizing tumulus of Monte Tosto and the temple built in the sixth century to atone
for the killing of the Phocaean prisoners after the battle of the Sardinian Sea already
mentioned, and, after crossing the Caeretan plain, reached the back of the monumental
sanctuary. From here it turned at a sharp angle to the north and, proceeding straight,
parallel to the coast for about 800 meters, arrived in the northern district of the town
located behind the harbor. Another quarter of the Etruscan town also extended to the
south, almost as far as the sanctuary; thanks to the latest excavations (2009–2011), it