Scrumpdillyicious: Chiusi Archaeology Museum & La Solita Zuppa

With one of the finest collections of Etruscan artifacts outside of Rome, the sensational Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Chiusi is a treasure of enormous significance for the town and surrounding area once known as Etruria. Many Etruscan tombs and settlements have been discovered over the years, which contain well-preserved items now displayed in the museo. Established in 1871, the museum moved to its current Neoclassical building in 1901, where many rare and precious finds are displayed, crossing the entire development of the Etruscan civilization from the Bronze Age to the Villanonova culture, Lombard and Roman eras. Great attention has been given to the preservation and conservation of the displayed materials, most of which came from private collections during the 19th and 20th centuries and from archaeological excavations. One of the most important museums in its field, the National Archaeological Museum of Chiusi is considered a singular point of reference for archaeologists, historians and lovers of antiquities alike, and is an absolutely amazing place to visit.

Just down the street from the Museum is Osteria La Solita Zuppa, a charming restaurant owned by Andrea and Lorella serving traditional Tuscan cuisine based on local organic ingredients. Originally opened before WWII as a marketplace tavern, Osteria La Solita Zuppa was a meeting point for the farmers who came into the city from the country to sell their produce. In 1984 Roberto and Luana began the process of restoring the Osteria to its gastronomic roots, serving dishes that show off the products of local farms, respecting the seasonality of local products. Since 2012 Andrea and Lorella now welcome guests with traditional Umbrian courtesy and hospitality, offering a cuisine based on slow cooking in a wood-burning oven, and a special menu of revived medieval recipes, local lamb, rabbit and other meats, sensational cheeses plus of course, an inspired menu of homemade soups after which the restaurant is named. Next door, La Solito Zuppa Bottega offers a taste of Tuscany, with local artisan produce, olive oils, fine wine and homemade pasta.

Open-Air Atrium entrance of Chiusi Museum with Roman and Etruscan artifacts

Canopic urn from Dolciano, with bronze sheet ossuary with earthenware head on a bronze throne with relief decoration from the 7th-century BC

Head of a canopic urn with gold earrings from Dolciano, from the 7th-century BC

Interior of Chiusi Archaeology Museum

"Pietra Fetida" funerary sphinx from the 6th-century BC

Small earrings, pendants and armlets from the 5th and 6th-entury BC

Ivory Pyxis with carved friezes of Ulysses and Scylla, wild beasts, horsemen and sphinxes, from The Tomb of the Pania, from 620-580 BC

Illustrations of the painted walled interior of The Tomb of the Hill, an Etruscan Tomb in Chiusi that was used as a funeral chamber and dates to the 5th-century BC, but was only discovered in 1833

Fabulous Mosaic panel with the Calydonian boar-hunt from a Roman Villa on Montevenere,

from the 1st-century BC

Detail of the 'chinghiale'

Chiusi Cathedral

The Chiusi Cathedral Museum was established in 1932 to house the spectacular 15th-century Benedictine illuminated manuscripts from the Monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore

Detail of one of the 15th-century Benedictine choir books

Drop initial detail

All the illuminated manuscripts are hand painted on parchment paper

Under Chiusi Cathedral is the Labrinth of Porsenna, a series of tunnels created by the Etruscans in the 5th-century BC which served as a drainage system and water supply

Carved out of sandstone, the monumental cistern was discovered over 20 years ago, with some of the tunnels freely accessible to visitors

Above the soaring central pillar and double barrel vault which was adapted by the Romans, was a defensive Tower which was later converted into the Bell Tower of the Cathedral