Chambers dug into the rock and surmounted by mounds, the oldest of which date back to the 7th century BC. Recognized, together with that of Cerveteri, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Necropolis of Tarquinia also known as the Etruscan Necropolis of Monterozzi hosts numerous types of tombs but the main ones are certainly the chamber ones, with or without a mound. These tombs are among the most important also for the richness of funerary objects that were found there during archaeological excavations.
The funerary chambers, modeled on the interiors of the houses, have fresco decorated walls on a light layer of plaster, with magical-religious scenes depicting funeral banquets, dancers, musicians of aulòs, jugglers, landscapes, in which an animated and harmonious movement is imprinted, portrayed with intense and lively colours. All with the aim of allowing the deceased to relive their earthly life and at the same time make the living forget the pain of their loss.
(Video from Corriere della Sera)
Among the most interesting and fascinating tombs
The Tomb of the Lionesses
dating back to the 4th century BC, it has a decoration divided into two registers. In the lower one, birds fly over a blue sea animated by acrobatic dolphins; in the upper register scenes of daily life of the Etruscan aristocracy. The name is linked to the two spotted lionesses painted on the pediment of the back wall.
the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing
The oldest, dating back to the 6th century BC. and composed of two rooms decorated with images of hunting and fishing and with portraits of the owners of the tomb.
And again
those of the Warrior, of the Leopards, of the Hunting and Fishing, of the Ogre, of the Jugglers, of the Hunter, of the Cardarelli, of the Lotus Flower, of the Gorgoneion, of the Festoons, of the Little Flowers, of the Bacchae, of the Bartoccini, of the Shields
By booking in advance it is also possible to visit the Tombs of the Panthers, the Bulls, the Baron, the Augurs and the Tomb of the Aninas in the nearby necropolis of Scataglini.
A series of Frescoes represent the most conspicuous pictorial nucleus of Etruscan art that has come down to us and at the same time the most extensive document of all ancient painting before the Roman imperial age. Defined by the scholarM. Pallottinoas “the first chapter in the history of Italian painting”.
Some paintings were removed from the tombs to better preserve them and are kept at the National Etruscan Museum of Tarquinia.
Monterozzi Necropolis
Via Ripagretta
Tarquinia (Viterbo)
Lazio – Italy
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