CECINA
Tuscany, Italy.
A city at the mouth
of the river Cecina, named for an Etruscan-Roman family
who owned vast land tracts, clay pits, kilns, and salt
beds. Rutilius Namatianus (
De reditu suo 453-478) describes a villa (of Albinus Cecina?) in what is now
San Vincenzino, a short distance from the mouth of
the river in the direction of the Marina. There, in the
18th and 19th c., remains of a Roman villa were found.
The cistern under it is of typical Roman design with a
covering of opus signinum and a concrete core (the actual cistern: 16.25 x 5.30 m x 4 m high; 344 cubic m, a
capacity of ca. 350,000 liters). Through a system of
double filters (wire mesh measuring 0.54 x 0.95 m) the
water passed in a winding distribution channel (ca. 100 m
long) with three wells for raising the water (for the
kitchens, the laundries, and the stables) and for inspection. The vast complexity of the water works well
attests to a villa on a grand scale. In the upper part
of this cistern have been discovered the fittings for a
bath, a small swimming pool, and remains of a mosaic
peristyle, aqueducts, and farm equipment. Around the
villa or farm, it is possible that an Etruscan-Roman
settlement had developed. The discoveries of tombs and
of Etruscan necropoleis (at Ghinchia and Le Pompe)
and of Roman necropoleis (at San Giuseppe and at
Campo ai Ciottoli) might indicate such a settlement.
Archaeological finds are preserved in the Museo Civico
at Cecina.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
L. Cipriani,
Avventure della mia vita
(1934) 25-31; G. Monaco in
FA, vols. 18-19, and
StEtr
(Rassegna Scavi e scoperte) from 33 (1965) to 39
(1971); M. Failli,
Voce della Riviera Etrusca vol. 3, n.
17-18, pp. 2-3; 4, n. 22-23, pp. 4-10.
G. MONACO
