Featured Excursions in Italy
Cerveteri
Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia
The necropolises of Tarquinia and Cerveteri are masterpieces of creative genius. Tarquinia's large-scale wall paintings are exceptional both for their formal qualities and for their content, which reveal aspects of life, death, and religious beliefs of the ancient Etruscans.
Cerveteri shows in a funerary context the same town planning and architectural schemes used in an ancient city.
The two necropolises constitute a unique and exceptional testimony to the ancient Etruscan civilisation, the only urban type of civilisation in pre-Roman Italy. Moreover, the depiction of daily life in the frescoed tombs, many of which are replicas of Etruscan houses, is a unique testimony to this vanished culture.
Many of the tombs of Tarquinia and Cerveteri represent types of buildings which no longer exist in any other form. The cemeteries, replicas of Etruscan town planning schemes, are some of the earliest existing in the region.
Cerveteri
Cerveteri or Kaisra to the Etruscans dates back to the 11th century as proven by the archæological digs that uncovered dwelling areas and necropolises. This Etruscan centre underwent a long period of growth and was at its apogee around the 6th century BC. Thanks to contact with Grecian culture and business dealings with the Phœnicians. This led to a pyramidal power structure with the aristocracy holding the reins. The settlement also had close ties with Carthage and together in 540 BC, they fought the Focese (Greeks) in the battle of the Sardinian Sea winning their place in the history books. From the 5th century onwards, things began to go wrong and over time, these led to the settlement’s decline. First and foremost was the growing conflict with the Greeks followed by the breaking off of trade with Italy. The area came more and more under the influence of the Romans during the 3rd and 2nd centuries. A highly oppressive regime reigned in the Middle Ages and the ancient Kaisra suffered an attack by the Saracens. This led a gradual abandonment of the area and as a consequence, the area was further impoverished due the land being left uncultivated. Malaria in the 12th century drove many of the remaining residents to find healthier places to live.
Cerveteri is the main Etruscan archæological site and is located in a fabulous site between the sea and the mountains not far from the capital city and other main towns. The journey between the historic centre and the necropolises bears witness to a rich and varied mediæval past that can be clearly seen in the locality that is brimming with reminders of other times.
The Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri
These are the Etruscan Necropolises of Banditaccia that extend over a distance of about 10 km (6 miles). They house four hundred burial sites over a period spanning from the 8th to the 2nd centuries BC.
From the point of view of developments in instrumentation and increased architectural awareness, such a wide time span has greatly helped studies of the tombs that are researching the social and urban evolution of the site.
One of the most striking characteristics is the way the paths are laid out in block formation, much like any town. There are numerous circular burial mounds dug from the tufacous surface. These mounds contain an inner burial chamber accessed by a corridor.
The funeral mounds followed the design of Etruscan dwellings.
Via degli Inferi is the main pathway separating the various burial areas.
One of the most interesting tombs to see is the Tomba dei Rilievi that dates back to the 4th century BC. It houses stuccoes that depict events, animals and objects that were used in day-to-day life. The tomb is of single chamber construction with partitions, balconies, columns and spaces assigned for graves.
Also well-worth noting are the Tombe dei Capitelli, dei Scudi and delle Sedie, delle Cinque Sedie and dell’Alcova.
The Tomba dei Capitelli is completely dug out from the tufaceous surface and an access corridor leads to two small chambers plus a square central room that has three rooms at its end. The tomb dates back to the 6th century BC.
The Tomba dei Scudi e delle Sedie houses six beds with pillows carved from the tufa. These were intended for the bodies of men as women were buried in sarcophagi. There are also high-backed seats and footstools where two terracotta statues rested.
The Tomba delle Cinque Sedie has the same type of interior layout with seats and footstools but in this case there are five of them also bearing statues. These statues had the role of welcoming the dead to the afterlife with a banquet.
The Tomba dell’Alcova is made up of a single square chamber and dates back to the 4th century BC.
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