Archaeological excavations in Frascole

Description

The archaeological area of Frascole, the only one in our district that is currently accessible to the public, has been the subject of excavations since 1972. We invite you to observe the model that reconstructs the site in its form prior to the last excavation campaign in 2013. On the Poggio di Frascole, about 460 meters above sea level, there are the remains of a small church from the mid-1200s dedicated to St. Martin, indicated by the letter A, which was certainly used until the 1400s, when the Pieve was moved further down in the Frascole locality to the present worship building of San Iacopo. But San Martino a Poggio did, perhaps, continue to exist until 1800. The north side of the small church runs parallel to the large Etruscan building, indicated by the letter B, with a rectangular plan and considerable dimensions: 32 x 12 meters. The elevations of that building are up to 2 meters thick and have been preserved, in some places up to 3-4 meters in height. They are all dry-walled with large square sandstone stones. The large Etruscan building, perfectly oriented north-south, is divided inside into three square spaces, called compartments. The upper part of the building was used in medieval times as a cemetery for the adjacent church of San Martino. But recent archaeological excavations have cleared all three compartments of the Etruscan building, bringing to light an earlier phase of life that existed before the large building. These older structures, now partly hidden underneath or destroyed, can be traced back to a housing settlement.