Parco archeologico di Poggio La Croce

Open-air archaeological area in the Chianti with remains of a settlement from the Copper Age to the Etruscan period, visitable with information panels.

Opening hours unknownFree admission

Directions

About the museum

Poggio La Croce, at 633 metres above sea level, is one of the highest ridges on the watershed between the Pesa and one of the first tributaries of the Arbia. Excavations began in 1989 and identified several phases of occupation.

The oldest traces, a few fragments of pottery, date from the Copper Age and the Bell Beaker culture, about four thousand years ago. In the Bronze Age, between the 11th and 10th centuries BC, the site was reoccupied several times with huts of branches and brushwood: the inhabitants practised transhumance with their flocks, worked deer antler and bone, spun wool and produced cheese. At the end of the 4th century BC, fortified hilltop settlements surrounded by walls appear in this area of the Chianti, and the Etruscan phase of Poggio La Croce belongs to this period.

The area is part of the archaeological itineraries of the Ecomuseo del Chianti Senese. Information panels in several languages allow independent visits, while some finds from the area, such as the sandstone stele with an Etruscan inscription, are kept in the Museo Ghelli in San Casciano in Val di Pesa.

Highlights

Remains of the Bronze Age settlement
Fortified Etruscan phase of the 4th century BC
Traces of the Copper Age
Information panels for independent visits
View from the hilltop at 633 metres

Permanent exhibition

Area archeologica di Poggio La Croce – Remains of a settlement from the Copper Age to the Etruscan period, explained by information panels along the route.