Cerveteri Etruscan Necropolis (Necropoli della Banditaccia)

The Necropoli della Banditaccia at Cerveteri, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the largest and most important Etruscan burial grounds to survive anywhere, a genuine 'city of the dead' laid out like the living town its Etruscan inhabitants once knew, complete with streets, squares and rows of house-shaped tombs. Cerveteri, ancient Caere, was one of the wealthiest and most powerful cities of Etruria between the 7th and 4th centuries BC, and its elite built vast circular tumulus tombs, mounded earth over tombs carved directly into the soft volcanic tufa bedrock, some large enough to hold multiple generations of a family and elaborately carved inside to resemble domestic interiors, with beds, chairs, doorways and roof beams sculpted directly from the rock. Visitors can walk the ancient streets of the necropolis and enter several of the larger tombs, including the famous Tomb of the Reliefs, whose walls and pillars are carved and painted with vivid depictions of household objects, weapons and even pets, offering an unusually intimate view of Etruscan daily life and belief in the afterlife. The most significant portable finds, including painted terracotta sarcophagi such as the celebrated Sarcophagus of the Spouses, are held in the Cerveteri National Archaeological Museum in the nearby town, as well as in Rome's Villa Giulia museum, making a combined visit to the museum in town a natural complement to the necropolis itself. A visit to the tombs takes about two hours over flat but sometimes uneven ground, shaded in places by pine and cypress trees. The site is markedly less crowded than Pompeii or Rome's ancient sites, giving a contemplative, open-air atmosphere. Cerveteri is reached from Rome by a Cotral bus from the Cornelia metro stop or by car in roughly an hour, making it a rewarding half-day or full-day trip for anyone interested in the civilization that predated and shaped early Rome.