I have been meaning to write about the purported Etruscan building up the river from us. The only mention I could find about it was in Wikipedia. “The nineteenth‑century archaeologist Mariano Guardabassi attributed this small building in the settlement of Lame, about 1 km from the center of the modern town, to the Etruscans although this is by no means certain.” I’ve been intrigued by the building since I first walked past it. Now seems like a good time to write a post about it, since not much is happening around here right now.

The earliest evidence of a culture that is definately Etruscan dates from about 900 BC. The people we call Etruscans called themselves Rasenna. The Romans called them Etrusci or Tusci. The Tivere (Tiber) river was the dividing line in ancient times, between the Rasenna/Etruscans to the west of the river and over to the Mediterranean, and the Umbras to the east. But there was an expansion in around 500 BC which crossed the river over to the foothills of the Apennine mountains. Our little building is on the east side of the river near the water.

Here is a picture of the Etruscan arch in Perugia. Perugia was originally settled by Etruscans and was one of their main cities. They have an amazing well, the arch, and a very good museum. I’m sure there’s more. The photo of the arch below is attributed to Wiki Media Commons.

Now for the picture I took of the little building near Umbertide. I took a series of photos of this building last fall and I’m going to have them printed and framed. This one is of the front of the oddly shaped building. I think it has five sides. Maybe six. None are equal. And I think the only part that is Etruscan is the center and the arch. You can see the different stones. I guess it’s been repurposed over time. It sits on a farm. Anyway, I just love this building and wanted to share.

Italian sentences for today…”Oggi ho fatto commissioni. Sono andato a fare la spesa. Mi sono tagliato i capelli” in English “I ran errands today. I went grocery shopping. I got my hair cut”. Pronounced oh-gee oh fah-toe com-miss-see-oh-nee. So-no ahn-dah-toe ah fah-ray lah spey-sah. Me so-no tah-glee-ah-toe eee cap-ell-lee.
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Stay safe everyone. Andrà tutto bene 🌈