An Etruscan city located on the hills above the modern city of Florence that developed out of a dispersed Orientalizing landscape. The early remains (before 500 BC) are not very substantial (a few finds on the hill of S. Apollinare), but from 500 BC, more substantial remains, including the distinctive Fiesolan cippi, are known.
A first city wall may have been built as early as the sixth to fifthcentury BC and was eventually 2.5 kilometers in length. The Hellenistic temple may rest above earlier remains. The substantial votive deposit of Villa Marchi is located in the city.
See also DODECAPOLIS.
Historical Dictionary of the Etruscans. Simon K. F. Stoddart.