Teatro Romano di Volterra
Stand at the edge of the viewing terrace above Vallebuona and the theatre opens below you like a page from a book left face-down in the grass — rows of pale limestone seats, a reconstructed two-storey stage front with Corinthian columns still reaching five metres high, and an orchestra floor that was once paved in coloured marble. It sits just outside the Porta Fiorentina, close enough to walk from the centre of town in ten minutes.
The Caecina family paid for all of it, sometime around the end of the first century BC. Their names — along with those of the Persii and Laelii — are still scratched into some of the 19 surviving rows of seats, a 3,500-person house that once drew the whole of Roman Volterra down the hill.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who come back tend to arrive early, before the tour groups, and linger at the corbels that once anchored the velarium poles — the awning rigging that shaded the crowd. The cumulative museum ticket is worth picking up here; it covers the Guarnacci Etruscan Museum, where three statue heads found during excavation, including portraits of Augustus and Livia, are now kept.
The story behind Teatro Romano di Volterra
Gaius Caecina Largus and Aulus Caecina Severus — the latter serving as consul in 2–1 BC — financed the theatre's construction in the Augustan period, and their dedication is recorded in an epigraph found on site. The theatre held 3,500 people in a cavea 60 metres across. A large thermal complex was added behind the stage building between the third and fourth centuries AD, and by the end of the third century the theatre itself had fallen out of use.
In the 13th century, the medieval city wall was driven straight through the upper cavea, burying the structure for centuries. It stayed buried until the 1950s, when Enrico Fiumi — an economist who had become honorary inspector of antiquities — led the excavations that uncovered it. The two-storey scaenae frons standing today was reconstructed from original fragments in the late 1970s.
Good to know
Buses stop directly outside; from Piazza dei Priori it's a short downhill walk. Entry is €5, or cheaper on a combined Volterra museums ticket. The site is partly viewed from above via a terrace with descriptive panels — useful context before you descend. Allow around an hour.
Summer is the easiest time to visit — July and August bring long sunny days and temperatures around 30°C, though the open site offers little shade beyond what the old velarium poles once promised. In winter the site is quieter and cooler, with January highs around 11°C; the theatre remains open on weekends through the colder months.
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What travellers say about Teatro Romano di Volterra
It's 10€ to go in and walk through however there is a great view point from up on the walls to the right of the gate. So if you just want a photo don't go in
€23 to see some ruins is a joke. You can have a better view from the wall above it and that view is free of charge. I have recently visited an ancient Greek amphitheatre in Taormina for €14. That is a much better preserved site for less.
The Roman Theatre in Volterra is a truly impressive spot to visit. Even without knowing much about history, you can feel the atmosphere of the place when standing among the ruins and looking at the old stone seats and stage area. The setting is quiet, scenic, and gives you a sense of stepping back in time. It’s one of those places where you can slow down, take in the view, and imagine what life here was like centuries ago. Definitely a highlight when exploring Volterra and worth including in your visit.
A well preserved ruins of the past, now modernly converted to a concert and theatre stage. Beautiful and scenic route for a walk to enjoy the mediaeval city.
A single ticket for €10 to enter, for a (better) view that you can actually get for free from above. You're not allowed to walk through anything, except for one short semi-circular path. It's daylight robbery. I acknowledge that the ticket gives entry to the Acropoli and Roman Cisterns as well, but if you're just going for the Roman Theatre, it's absolutely not worth the money.
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