A city of the dead with Etruscan tumulus tombs
Cerveteri, ancient Caere, was one of the richest cities of Etruria, with a port on the sea and trade throughout the Mediterranean. Its inhabitants built a true city of the dead on a tuff plateau outside the town, the Banditaccia necropolis, which together with that of Tarquinia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Among umbrella pines and grass stand hundreds of tumulus tombs, great circular mounds of earth on bases of carved tuff, arranged along streets like a real town. Inside, the chambers reproduce the houses of the living, with beds, chairs and ceilings carved in stone to imitate wooden beams. The most famous is the Tomb of the Reliefs, with walls decorated with painted stucco objects of daily life: weapons, kitchen utensils, animals. The famous Sarcophagus of the Spouses, now in Rome, comes from here.
Tip: the National Etruscan Museum of Cerveteri, in the castle, displays the finds; bring a torch for the darker tombs.
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