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Jessica Renee Carter, Staff Writer
The ringing of church bells and the footsteps of a lone passerby break the silence of village life. A child sings quietly and pigeons flutter their wings in a nearby fountain as the smell of burning wood and smoking sausage fill the fresh country air. The sound of an occasional car is heard from far away and ladies lean out their windows to tell a neighbor of the day's idle events.
There's no graffiti to be seen, no trash blowing in the wind and no time binding the day. There's only draping pines, wooden shutters and white sheets hanging from window to window drying over cobblestone walkways.
In some ways, time stands still in the ancient village of Sutri. But for a tourist visiting Rome, it's the perfect place for a one day get-away to the countryside. Located only forty-five minutes outside the city, Sutri is a village that offers an illustrative backdrop of medieval cottages bunched together on a sunny hilltop. You can feel the peace and serenity of the Old World and at the same time explore ancient ruins and a history dating back to prehistoric times.
Starting at the foothills of the village, the ancient amphitheater is among the sites of Sutri that may be of interest to history buffs, archeology lovers and tourists looking for a sightseeing adventure. From the outside you can see that the exterior of the amphitheater has no exact architectural structure. Like many ruins left from the Etruscan people, the structure was carved out of a giant volcanic rock. Entering the gates, you can see a round grassy floor encircled by levels of eroded seats and a tunnel with ten openings that surround the inner base of the amphitheater.
The origin of the amphitheater is uncertain, but the ruins date back to the fourth and fifth centuries before Christ, during the time when Sutri was on the border between the Roman and Etruscan states. The structure was used for barbaric spectacles, gladiator battles and games of rivalry similar to those of the Roman Coliseum.
Scientists believe that either Etruscan engineers or Etruscan workmen under the Roman Empire built the amphitheater that maintained an important historical role in the area from the time it was built until the middle ages. Other traces of the Etruscan people include the necropolis located in the same volcanic rock just on the outside of the amphitheater.
Once the tombs of the Etruscan people, the caves and tunnels of the necropolis hold artifacts that are similar to those found in other villages of northern Lazio. The Church of the Madonna del Parto also dates back to the Etruscan people. A tomb until the first century before Christ, the structure now holds the relics of Santa Dolcissima, the martyr of Sutri.
The archaeological remains of the old city may be the greatest interest drawing people to Sutri, but the quiet life waits in the cluster of cottages up above the ruins.
A stroll through the village will lead you to the main square, Piazza del Comune where you can enjoy outdoor seating and lunch for less than $10 (L20.000) per person.
Another picturesque site is Piazza Cavour where you can also enjoy patio seating outside the square's lone bar.
Like many villages in Lazio, Sutri holds seasonal festivals to celebrate diverse themes such as the fall harvest and religious commemorations. Widely known in the region for having a cream of the crop bean production, Sutri holds an annual sagra or festival of the beans on the second Sunday of September. The walkways of the village fill with people from the surrounding villages to sample the year's harvest, listen to traditional music and to watch parades of floats and religious relics.
If you are planning to visit Sutri and would like more information about other festivals, accommodations and places to visit in Sutri, check out: www.isa.it/tuscia/sutri/index.htm
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