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mi rasma, io sono etrusco, game, videogame, videogioco, etruschi, Toscana, Umbria, Lazio, itineraio, itinerary, Necropoli, Banditaccia, Cerveteri, Tarquinia, populonia, Vetulonia, Castiglione della Pescaia
mi rasma, io sono etrusco, game, videogame, videogioco, etruschi, Toscana, Umbria, Lazio, itineraio, itinerary, Necropoli, Banditaccia, Cerveteri, Tarquinia, populonia, Vetulonia, Castiglione della Pescaia

Mi Rasna and the Etruscan Mediterranean

The Etruscan civilization, which developed from the 9th century BCE and survived until 1st century CE, mostly across the present-day regions of Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, had an enormous influence on the culture of Ancient Rome. The focus of a long process of cultural assimilation, certainly not without critical nor tense moments, Etruscan civilization contributed over time to laying a solid base for the Roman culture that followed. Visiting some of the main Etruscan city-states today means returning to the very origins of Ancient Rome and at the same time discovering a new dimension. What better way to track the Etruscans across the numerous archaeological sites that have survived until today, than on the pathway outlined in Mi Rasna: I’m Etruscan. Mi Rasna is a strategy – management game where the player is a lucumone, a local magistrate, administering one of the 12 city-states of Etruria. The game was developed in partnership with numerous archaeological museums in Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio and aims to raise awareness about the territory and wealth of Etruscan historical and archaeological heritage, also providing themed quizzes and encyclopaedic-type information for those playing. We outline the pathway across Etruscan Italy in Mi Rasna, focussing in particular on the Mediterranean coast from Lazio to Tuscany.

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The locations

Castiglione della Pescaia
Region: Toscana Type: Borgo storico Territory: borgo, centro storico, collina
Populonia
Region: Toscana Type: Borgo storico Territory: borgo, collina
Tarquinia
Region: Lazio Type: Città Territory: borgo

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Map of game - Mi Rasna: I’m Etruscan (Game)

The Necropolis of Banditaccia, Cerveteri

We begin by the coast in Cerveteri a little north of Rome. On the north western outskirts of the town, the Banditaccia Necropolis can be reached by walking down the via degli Inferi, an ancient street dug from tuff rock which once linked it to the ancient walls of Caere: a place that is highly evocative today. The necropolis, which extends over 40 hectares, is positioned on a picturesque tuff plain. The site, which features thousands of burial chambers dating to the multiple periods of the Etruscan civilization, from the most remote Villanova era to the more recent Hellenistic, can be visited today. This is the necropolis where the Sarcophagus of the Spouses was found, today conserved in the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia in Rome: so famous and precious is this object that it even played a cameo role in the adventure Uncharted 4.



 
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Tarquinia

Through the centuries in Tarquinia

Further down the coastline is Tarquinia. The city is today a combination of different historical eras: medieval walls, castles, churches, high towers. The area also conserves the Mediterranean’s most extensive necropolis, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, whose funeral chambers are decorated with priceless frescoes dedicated to the dead. The National Archaeological Museum of Tarquinia houses another great masterpiece, a pair of winged horses found in the Ara della Regina (Altar of the Queen). While in the area, the historical centre of the city should not be neglected: here numerous religious buildings, including Santa Maria in Castello (a Cathedral until 1435) display influences from the North, South, Pisa and Arabia - a history stretching back centuries. The very same history evoked by the robust towers that once protected the residential centre, including the Barucci tower and the circular one dedicated to Matilde di Canossa.



 
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Castiglione della Pescaia

From Etruscan Vetulonia to the village of Castiglione della Pescaia

We head now towards the sea where the beautiful area of Castiglione della Pescaia, perched on the coast, is located near Vetulonia, a residential hamlet that also conserves the ruins of necropolises, walls and monumental tombs. It is worth taking a moment here from the Etruscan civilization to breathe in some of other historical eras: the castle and the harbour, of some significance between the 1700 and 1800s, are today a tourist and holiday destination with restaurants and bars that line the streets down to the sea and the harbour, flanked by two different walls, towers and historical buildings as it stretches up to the castle. The urban centre also features the Villa Romana delle Paduline, dated between 2nd century BCE and 2nd century CE which yielded priceless artefacts, including a perfectly conserved bust of the Emperor Hadrian now displayed in the Museum della Maremma of Grosseto). Those lucky enough to visit in the right moment of the year may witness two fascinating local traditions: the palio marinaro where rowboats with crews of five race on the sea, and the donkey race in Vetulonia where the four neighbourhoods of the village compete.



 
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Populonia

The metal-working tradition of Populonia

The journey ends in Populonia, a hamlet of Piombino in the province of Livorno. In ancient times, this was an extremely important Etruscan and Roman centre. Today its archaeological park conserves the remains of a necropolis while traces of the Etruscan walls and several Roman buildings can be seen in the city. Populonia owes its previous fortune to geography: located near the Campiglies and the Isle of Elba it quickly become an important centre for bronze and iron metal working. In Mi Rasna, the player, as a lucumone, administers the harvesting, preparation and exchange of the precious metals. After a stroll in the residential centre, a visit to the Benedictine Monastery of St. Quirico near Mount Tondo is in order: active until the end of the 1500s, in recent years many artefacts have been discovered with excavation work.
That is not however the end of the journey: Mi Rasna offers the option of administering more of the 12 Etruscan city-states: from Volterra one can go inland and stop in Arezzo, Cortona, Perugia, Chiusi. The heritage of the Etruscans is just waiting to be discovered.



 
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