What is Murlo known for?

Sixth-century BC seated terracotta male in a wide-brimmed hat, the symbol of the Antiquarium and one of the most striking Etruscan acroteria ever found. Etruscan princely palace excavated from 1966 on a hill three kilometers north, one of the most important pre-Roman settlement complexes in Italy. Held by the bishops of Siena as a feudal lordship for centuries, the unusual status that kept it outside the Sienese republic until the nineteenth century.

Murlo is a comune in the province of Siena, Tuscany region of Italy, about 101 kilometers from Firenze.

Tuscany · Siena

Murlo

A medieval bishops' fief twenty kilometers south of Siena, with an Etruscan princely palace on Poggio Civitate and the Cappellone statue as its symbol.

101 km / 63 mi

Nearest hub (Firenze)

2,423

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Murlo sitson a wooded ridge above the Crevole river, twenty kilometers south of Siena. The comune is scattered. The town hall is in Vescovado, the modern center down on the valley road; the medieval castle of Murlo, walled and tower-anchored, is a kilometer up on the hill, mostly empty and given over to tourism. The bishops of Siena held this ground as a feudal lordship for centuries, which kept it outside the Sienese republic and gave it the unusual status of an episcopal fief. The defining find is older. On Poggio Civitate, three kilometers north, archaeologists from 1966 onward uncovered an Etruscan princely palace of the seventh and sixth centuries BC, one of the most important Etruscan settlement complexes ever excavated. The terracotta acroteria from the roof line included the Cappellone, a seated bearded male wearing a wide-brimmed hat, sixth century BC, now the symbol of the Antiquarium museum housed in the old Episcopal Palace at the center of the borgo.

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Gallery

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Known for

Antiquarium di Poggio Civitate
Archaeological museum in the medieval Palazzo Vescovile at the center of Murlo, holding the Cappellone and other finds from the Etruscan settlement on Poggio Civitate.
Poggio Civitate
Etruscan princely palace complex of the seventh and sixth centuries BC, three kilometers north of the borgo, one of the most important sites in Etruria.
Castello di Murlo
Twelfth-century walled village, the medieval seat of the bishops of Siena, with narrow streets converging on the Palazzo Vescovile.
Chiesa di San Fortunato
Parish church inside the walls of Murlo castle, plain stone façade, the religious anchor of the episcopal fief.
Val di Merse
Forested river valley west of Murlo, with hiking trails connecting the borgo to the hermitages of Montespecchio and the surrounding nature reserves.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the months when the Crete Senesi south of Murlo sit at their gold-and-green best. The Antiquarium is open year-round but limited in winter hours. July and August push past thirty-three degrees and the castle empties between two and six. The Festa Medievale, in late July, fills the walls with costumed reenactment and local food stalls. November through March is quiet and the borgo population shrinks back to the resident few hundred. Olive harvest runs October and November, with mills in the surrounding hills pressing the local oil that supplies the Città dell'Olio designation; the vineyards on the Crevole slopes contribute the wine designation in turn.