BICOL STATE COLLEGE OF APPLIED SCIENCES ND TECHNOLOGY

CITY OF NAGA

E T R U S C A N

A R C H I T E C T U R E

HISTORY OF
ACTIVITY 14
ARCHITECTURE

JENZ HOPE NOVELA

BSA- 1C

ARCH. IAN KENNETH ORASA

UAP
 ETRUSCAN ARCHITECTURE

ETRUSCAN ARCHITECTURE WAS CONSTRUCTED BETWEEN AROUND

900 BC AND 27 BC, WHEN ETRUSCAN CIVILIZATION WAS EVENTUALLY
ABSORBED BY ANCIENT ROME'S GROWING CIVILIZATION AND WAS
GREATLY INSPIRED BY GREEK ARCHITECTURE, WHICH WAS ALSO GROWING
AT THE TIME, STARTING AROUND 630 BC. AS A RESULT, IT AFFECTED
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE, WHICH MAY BE THOUGHT OF AS A REGIONAL
VARIATION OF ETRUSCAN ARCHITECTURE IN THE EARLY YEARS. HOWEVER,
FROM AROUND 200 BC, THE ROMANS BEGAN TO LOOK TO GREECE FOR
DESIGN INSPIRATION, WHILE PRESERVING CERTAIN ETRUSCAN FEATURES
AND FUNCTIONS IN THEIR STRUCTURES. TEMPLES, DWELLINGS, TOMBS,
CITY WALLS, BRIDGES, AND HIGHWAYS WERE ALL BUILT BY THE
ETRUSCANS USING STONE, WOOD, AND OTHER MATERIALS. TOMBS AND
WALLS ARE THE ONLY CONSTRUCTIONS THAT HAVE SURVIVED IN ANY
QUANTITY IN ANYTHING RESEMBLING THEIR FORMER STATE, ALTHOUGH
ARCHEOLOGY AND OTHER SOURCES HAVE PROVIDED US WITH A WEALTH
OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT WHAT PREVIOUSLY EXISTED.

EARLY ETRUSCAN SETTLEMENTS AND ETRUSCAN HOUSES WERE BUILT

ON EASILY DEFENSIBLE PLATEAUS AND RIDGES, BUT THOSE TOWNS IN
PLACES VULNERABLE TO INVASION WERE FORTIFIED WITH STONE WALLS
AND DITCHES. THE SETTLEMENT AT MARZABOTTO IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF
TOWN PLANNING, WITH STRUCTURES ALIGNED NORTH-SOUTH AND LAID
OUT IN A GRID PATTERN FROM THE 5TH CENTURY BCE. WE KNOW THAT THE
ETRUSCANS WERE PARTICULARLY CONCERNED WITH RITUALS AND
CEREMONIES RELATED TO BUILDING PLANNING AND LAYOUT, AND THAT
CERTAIN CONFIGURATIONS WERE REGARDED FORTUNATE.THE ROCK-CUT
BURIAL CHAMBERS FREQUENTLY CREATE SUITES OF "ROOMS," SOME OF
WHICH ARE RATHER VAST, AND WHICH LIKELY MIRROR IN PART THE
ETRUSCAN ATRIUM DWELLINGS. MUD BRICK AND WATTLE AND DAUB WERE
USED TO CONSTRUCT SUCH STRUCTURES, WHICH WERE COMPOSED OF
SOIL AND ORGANIC COMPONENTS. THERE ARE STONE HEARTHS AND
MAYBE STONE RINGS AT THE BASE. STONE DWELLINGS APPEAR TO HAVE
BEEN UNUSUAL EVEN AMONG THE WEALTHY, AND ROCK-CUT BURIAL
CHAMBERS SOMETIMES DEPICT TIMBER CEILINGS IN STONE.

THE EARLIEST ETRUSCAN SACRED SPACES WERE JUST OUTDOOR

AREAS DESIGNATED AS SACRED WITH AN ALTAR WHERE RITUALS WERE
PERFORMED, WITH NO BUILDING. EARLY ETRUSCANS APPEAR TO HAVE
WORSHIPED IN OPEN AIR ENCLOSURES THAT WERE MARKED OFF BUT NOT
BUILT OVER; UNTIL THE END OF ROMAN RELIGION, SACRIFICES WERE STILL
DONE OUTSIDE RATHER THAN INSIDE TEMPLES. A RECTANGULAR PEDESTAL
MAY BE SEEN IN SOME REGIONS, FROM WHICH OMENS MIGHT BE SEEN.
THEY DIDN'T START BUILDING MONUMENTAL TEMPLES UNTIL AROUND 600
BC, WHEN THEIR CIVILIZATION WAS AT ITS PEAK, AND THEY WERE HUGELY
INFLUENCED BY THE GREEKS. WITHIN THE SACRED SPACE, STRUCTURES,
MOST LIKELY MADE OF WOOD AND THATCH, WERE CONSTRUCTED FOR A
VARIETY OF PURPOSES, INCLUDING LODGING. TYPICAL ETRUSCAN AND
ROMAN TEMPLES HAVE A VERY FRONTAL APPROACH THAT FEATURES A
HEAVY FOCUS ON THE FRONT FAÇADE, LESS ON THE SIDES, AND VERY
LITTLE ON THE REAR, IN CONTRAST TO GREEK TEMPLES. THE PODIA ARE
NORMALLY TALLER AND CAN ONLY BE ENTERED THROUGH A SECTION OF
THE FRONT, LEAVING THE REST OF THE PLATFORM WALL BLANK. THE
FRONT PORTICO MAY HAVE MERELY A FEW COLUMNS. THE PORTICO IN
ETRUSCAN TEMPLES IS MUCH DEEPER THAN IN ROMAN TEMPLES,
FREQUENTLY COVERING HALF OF THE AREA BENEATH THE ROOF AND
INCLUDING MANY ROWS OF COLUMNS.