The Sanctuary of Demeter in Volterra
The Temple of Demeter, located along the western edge of the Piano di Castello in Volterra, represents the last building erected in the sacred area before the definitive abandonment of the sanctuary. Built in the second half of the 2nd century BC, the building scenographically concludes the sequence of cult precincts in the south-western sector.
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Layout: It was a small building with an elongated rectangular plan.
Accesses: It featured a complex arrangement of entrances: a three-step frontal staircase (originally covered with white plaster imitating marble), a doorway on the southern side, and a rear entrance equipped with a prothyron, a small portico supported by two columns.
Architectural decoration: The roof was adorned with male-headed antefixes wearing winged Phrygian caps, a type comparable to Late Hellenistic examples from Chiusi and Orvieto.
The exceptionally valuable element of the temple was the chamber intended to house the statue of the deity. The walls were decorated with a First Style fresco, created by craftsmen likely originating from the Greek islands. This decorative scheme imitated marble revetments featuring Hellenistic patterns, reflecting Volterra’s cultural openness to Mediterranean models conveyed through the Roman sphere.
The small temple was the focal point of activities dedicated to a mother goddess identified as Demeter.
Processions: From the rear entrance, a paved pathway led to the open-air sacred enclosures. During the October festivals (similar to the Greek Thesmophoria), worshippers followed this route in nocturnal processions, illuminating their path with terracotta torches.
Offerings and installations: In the vicinity of the temple, numerous bothroi (votive pits) have been discovered containing remains of animal sacrifices (piglets, poultry, and sheep) as well as plant offerings such as grapes and figs.
The “Pit of Persephone“: A large pit filled with animal bones (especially sheep mandibles) and a small amphora has been interpreted as a ritual deposit, possibly dedicated to Demeter’s daughter, Persephone.
Unlike the large Temples A and B, which remained standing until the 3rd century AD, the Temple of Demeter had a short lifespan. It was destroyed in 82 BC, during the violent clashes between the supporters of Marius and Sulla. The collapse of the building and the abandonment of the adjacent structures (such as the so-called “watchtower”) mark the end of the sanctuary’s phase of architectural expansion.
