Like many other Etruscan centres, Blera sits over a deep ravine. It is still outlined by sections of original walls. In the neighbourhood are about 1,000 tombs and dozens of tumuli. But the tombs, having done duty for 1,000 years as stables and wine cellars, are a disappointment to the ordinary visitor. Soak up the atmosphere, savour the patriarchal landscape − more thinly populated now than in ancient times, but just as mild and fertile in climate and character.