Ancient Ruins

Umbria contains Italy’s most important archeology sites.

The Etruscans are considered one of the greatest mysteries of the Ancient World. They were the earliest inhabitants of central Italy, around 800 BCE, and archeologists can positively place them in Italy before the Romans.

The Etruscans spoke a non-Indo-European language that is unrelated any other known language groups. There are few surviving Etruscan writings for scholars to study and they remain mostly untranslated due to lack of knowledge about their language. Etruscans left no surviving history of their own, their origins are lost in prehistory, and what we know of them today comes mostly from Roman and Greek historians.

Near the Italy Art Workshops there are a multitude of fascinating ancient Etruscan and Roman sites to explore, which include necropolises (burial tombs), frescoes, networks of underground tunnels, amphitheaters, aqueducts, bathhouses and other massive stone structures. For a closer examination of these ancient civilizations, there is also a wealth of artifacts and statues in the well-maintained museums around Umbria. Your Workshop Handbook will point out some of the more important ancient sites worth visiting during your stay.