It hangs between heaven and earth at the top of what was once a mountain railway, a focal point in the landscape for miles around. Town houses adorned with armorial bearings, a Saturday market with striped umbrellas spread on the piazza, the Guarnacci Etruscan Museum with wonderful Giacometti-like figurines and ornaments of 2,500 years ago…and the cutting of alabaster, the pure white or blackstreaked rock on which Volterra is built. See it done and buy finished products at Bessi Ghebo Vero in Via Turazza. Many flock to San Gimignano, few to Volterra, but the latter town has more personality and more stable and homely traditions. It is however open to all the winds, icy in winter.