A DAY IN FIESOLE cont:
We ~ld hardly agree with Abbe Lanzi that the worderful ruins of Fiesole are of ''Little relevance" The first archaeological map designed by a local man, Angelo Bibi in 1815 shows an :i.rnµ)sing city,with a stronghold surroorrled by triple bourdary walls•
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M.ich of the recon-struction was no doubt a figment of his imagination. Nevertheless, after 200 years of digging ~ now have, within quite a small area, evidence of the presence of man on that hill since the cegining of the secorrl millenilllll B.C. am this presence appears uninterrupted throoghout the Bronze Age tmtil typical ''Villanovan" fragments bring u& to the threshold of the actual Etruscan Age. The site, at present, contains ~11 preserved remains of an Etruscan temple, an almost canplete Ranan amphitheatre, am equally ~11 preserved Ranan Bathes, dating fran the 1st century A.D. The many graves discovered in the aear close to the village have yielded a large munber of artifacts airl many every day life articles for which a tm.lsealllllwas b..tilt in the fonn of a temple. The objects are exhibited in 3 roans am are all tagged with precise arrl ample infonnation
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It is not my µ.irpose to descrice here in detail the magnificent excavat-ions. Suffice it to say that anyone who finds himself in Tuscany could ~11 sperrl a day enjoying a grunpse into the past in the brilliant(usually) Italian sunshine. In addition to the archaeological site, the little ta-m contains a 13th Century Church, a nruselllll of art with many ceautiful painting::; fran the Florence Cathedral am other galleries, a Cath--edral finished in 1028, am a Church which was the birthplace of the Franciscan order. Where else can yru get a cetter 25p' s worth of archeology, with a 100st magnificent view of the whole of Florence thra-m in free ? A.S.
