Situated about 50 km. southwest of Florence in Tuscany, the city of Volterra has a long history stretching back to antiquity, when it was a major Etruscan center known as Velathri. By the third century, B.C.E., the city, now called Volaterrae, had fallen into the Roman sphere of influence. And in the 5th century, C.E., the Christian church named Volterra the seat of a diocese, with its own bishop. The rampart and keep visible in this image date to the period when the city-state of Florence established control of Volterra. They are part of the fortifications added in 1472 by Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzo the Magnificent, Italian statesman and patron of the arts, 1449-1492) to the Rocca Vecchia (Old Fortress) built in 1343 by Walter de Brienne, duke of Athens. Rocca Nuova now serves as a prison.December 1986