Volterra

Volterra is one of the oldest cities in Tuscany. The walls, still visible today, were erected to defend the Etruscan city - called Velathri - starting from the sixth century BC.

Volterra stands on top of a hill at an altitude of about 500 meters in the heart of Tuscany and, on the clearest days, from the city's terraces, you can admire a fantastic panorama over the whole region.

The numerous architectures testify to the historical importance of Volterra we find in the city, from the ruins of the Acropolis and the Roman Theater to medieval buildings such as the Palazzo dei Priori, the Medici Fortress, and the Cathedral.

But Volterra is not only history and splendid architecture; it is also surrounded by a typically Tuscan landscape, characterized by rolling hills as far as the eye can see, covered with wheat crops and solitary cypresses.

And then there is the extraordinary landscape of the Balze di Volterra, steep overhanging rock formations due to the erosion and collapse of sandy soils onto more resistant clayey soils.

I have almost always taken the most evocative and engaging photographs of Volterra and its surroundings in the presence of atmospheric phenomena such as snow or fog, which are recurrent in these territories in the autumn or winter months.

Even in spring, with the boundless expanses of wheat and the bright colors of other crops, the landscape becomes like a postcard, thanks also to the almost total absence of woods and the gentle undulations of the land that generate a splendid play of light and shadow.