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TARQUINIA

     Founded in the 12th century BC, Tarquinia dominated the whole of maritime Etruria by the 6th century. It is universally acclaimed for the discovery of its remarkable Etruscan Necropolis.

National museum

Located in the Palazzo Vitelleschi (15th century), it contains particularly interesting Sarcophagi of 6th and 5th centuries BC representing priests, magistrates, etc... The museum also offers pottery, ivory objects, votives etc and two magnificent winged horses from the pediment of a temple in Tarquinia. Some tombs have been reconstructed.

       

Entry of the Museum of Tarquinia Museum of Tarquinia - Sarcophagus Sculptures on sarcophagus Pediment of a temple

  

Room of the sarcophagi Sarcophagi Sculptures Sarcophagus

  

Lid of sarcophagus Sarcophagus of the merchant Sarcophagus of woman Lid of sarcophagus

  

Window of terra cotta heads Etrusque toy Window of terra cotta heads

  

The Necropolis

The Necropolis extends 5 km in length and 1 km wide, and includes thousands of tombs dating from the 6th through to the 1st centuries BC. Here, not showing architectural features, but an extraordinary assemblage of paintings decorating the walls with the underground funerary rooms: scenes of everyday life, such as banquetting and dancing, hunting and fishing, horse racing, games and spectacles, or visions of the After-Life, such as divinities, funerary rites and religious symbols.

Among the tombs preserved in situ, some of the most interesting are: The tomb of the Baron, with its elegant and precise subjects, Tomb of the Leopards, with its freshness of color and its lively and varied scenes, the Tomb of the Lionesses and the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing.

Interiors of tombs

Tomb of Hunting and Fishing (520-510 BC)

Tomb of the Bulls - Achilles Tomb of the Typhon Tomb of the Jugglers

   

Tomb of hunting and fishing - detail Fishers Tomb of the Augurs - Door to Hell Tomb of the Baron
   
Tomb of Hunting and Fishing - The Diver Tomb of the Triclinium - dancer

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