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Offbeat Travel reveal the secrets of Tarquinia’s Etruscans. At the height of their civilisation nearly 2,500 years ago, Tarquin kings had ruled Rome and Tarquinia was the most influential Etruscan city in Italy. Unfortunately most Europe tours do not usually visit the sites where these cryptic ancients lived.
Tarquinia. Tomba Claudio Bettini, by mapelli.francesco
The National Museum of Tarquinia is located in the Gothic Palazzo Vitelleschi and proudly presents Etruscan funerary statues, stone sarcophagi, bronze mirrors decorated with engravings, amazing frescoes and urns. Also Greek ceramics, evidence of healthy trade. The museum’s life-sized terracotta winged horses are the must see masterpieces of Etruscan art.
The nearby Monterozzi Necropolis (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) covers about 5km (!) and contains about 6,000 subterranean tombs. Fifteen tombs are open for viewing, their white entrances distinct in the peaceful pastural land.
Tarquinia eventually declined after attacks by by the Lombards and Saracens between the 6th and 8th centuries and its citizens assimilated with other Italians.
If you’re in Rome on your European vacation, Tarquinia is a 90-minute rail trip from the Termini Station.
