Pyrgi

Every façade in the centre of Pyrgi is covered in xysta: black volcanic sand is plastered over the wall, whitewashed, and the top layer scratched away in geometric patterns — triangles, zigzags, rosettes — so that the whole square reads as one enormous piece of op art. The technique is Genoese in origin. The medieval tower stands in the middle, the twelfth-century church of Agioi Apostoloi is tucked into an alley, and strings of drying tomatoes hang off the balconies in late summer.