Spina Etruscan City Discovery Exhibition Opens in Rome

A major exhibition at Villa Giulia in Rome marks the centenary of the discovery of Spina, one of the most important Etruscan cities on the Adriatic. Spina was uncovered on April 3, 1922, near Comacchio during land reclamation works in Valle Trebba. Between the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, it was a major Mediterranean commercial port linking East and West. Over four thousand mostly intact tombs were excavated, yielding one of the world's largest collections of Attic imported ceramics. The show features over 700 works from Italian and international institutions, displayed alongside the museum's permanent collection. It traces Etruscan origins and their commercial, cultural, and social networks from Spina to Pyrgi, from the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian. The exhibition is structured in seven sections, beginning with the discovery documented in excavation diaries by assistant Giovanni Proni. Highlights include the crater from Tomb 579 of Valle Trebba and the contemporary Altorilievo di Pyrgi, both depicting the myth of the Seven Against Thebes. Immersive video projections recreate the original context of the Pyrgi relief. Other sections cover trade, ritual practices, funerary customs, and daily life. A votive terracotta of Aeneas and Anchises fleeing Troy, the first artifact recovered from Spina in 1668, closes the exhibition. The show is the third and final stage of celebrations that began in Comacchio and continued in Ferrara.