Vulci, Superintendence acquires area where ancient city's port was located

A new phase of enhancement in Tuscia has begun with the recent acquisition by the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio of Viterbo and Southern Etruria of a large archaeological area located in the locality of Murelle, in the municipality of Montalto di Castro (Viterbo). This area was historically the port of the Etruscan city of Vulci. The project, carried out in synergy between the Directorate General for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape (DG Abap), the Agenzia del Demanio and the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio (Sabap), marked an important step for the region’s cultural heritage.

The acquisition process came to a conclusion after about 10 years of complex administrative and legal vicissitudes. The process had begun with the exercise of the right of first refusal over a portion of land subject to archaeological constraint. However, an appeal to the Regional Administrative Court had initially resulted in an unfavorable outcome for the Superintendency, which then obtained a favorable decision from the Council of State, thus allowing the acquisition of the disputed land to be completed.

In 2022, a second preemption procedure allowed the acquisition of an additional portion of the constrained area, closer to the sea. Identified as the Regae mentioned in theItinerarium Maritimum (a valuable document from the third century AD. with the maritime routes of the Mediterranean, from Greece to Sicily, from Rome to Sardinia, and from the Adriatic to the North Sea), which locates the site midway between the mouth of the Arrone and the mouth of the Fiora, and the Regisvilla of the Greek historian Strabo, the area had been only partially explored in the late 1970s and early 1980s by the Institute of Ancient Topography at La Sapienza University in Rome. These searches had revealed a vast rectangular enclosure dated between Roman and medieval times, as well as structures from the Etruscan period and a Roman villa from the early imperial period. Remains of Roman burials and submerged harbor works were also found.

More recent investigations of the materials confirm the existence of an Etruscan settlement with a commercial character, frequented by Greeks and Phoenicians. Many of the recovered finds show engraved and graffiti signs interpreted as trade marks, while dedication inscriptions to the deity Vei suggest the possible presence of cult sites related to exchange.

The Murelle area will be integrated into the Vulci Naturalistic-Archaeological Park, managed by the Vulci Foundation thanks to an agreement between the Ministry of Culture, the Lazio Region, the province of Viterbo and the municipalities of Montalto di Castro and Canino. Non-invasive surveys are already planned for next summer, which will guide subsequent archaeological excavations. These large-scale research activities will make it possible to delineate the extent and characteristics of the site, adding important details about the city of Vulci’s trade relations with the Mediterranean. This project will also offer the public new and evocative visitor routes, further enriching their knowledge of the ports of southern Etruria, such as Pyrgi and Gravisca.

Vulci, Superintendence acquires area where ancient city's port was located

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