Tom`s travels: Cerveteri (19/04/2019)

When my brother managed to get a day off from work we decided to take a train and head to visit the town and archaeological area of Cerveteri. Its Etruscan necropolis of the Banditaccia is included in the Unesco site together with another one located in Tarquinia. So after reaching the station we started on foot and headed towards the city located about a 1hour walk northwards. Once we reached the old town, we passed by the medieval walls and headed to the Piazza Santa Maria, the town's main square. Here we first visited the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, consisting of two churches, a modern one from 1959 and a much older from the 11th century. At the northeastern end of the square lies the nice 16th century Palazzo Ruspoli, with an elegant loggia. On the opposite end of the square is the castle which holds the National Museum. We entered it and explored its rooms filled with Etruscan objects coming mostly from the archaeological site of the Banditaccia close to the old town. Beautiful vases, urns, and other funerary objects were exhibited showcasing the life after death for the Etruscans. After the visit to the museum, we then walked through the old town passing through the central Piazza Risorgimento with its nice fountain with a clock. We then decided to take some lunch and opted with taking a pizza from a restaurant called Jolly and take it to eat a the local public park. After lunch, we finally headed to see the necropolis located just north of the old town. After reaching the entrance and paying the ticket we entered the archaeological area and immediately marveled and the peculiar and interesting forms of the circular tombs coming out of the ground like huge mushrooms. Out of 400 hectares supposed to represent the whole necropolis, just 10 hectares with about 400 tombs are part of the viewable part. The oldest date to the 9th century B.C. with the newest, and most lavish, dating to the 3rd century B.C. The wonderful part was that nearly all the tumuli could be visited inside. That meant creeping through narrow spaces and crevices to see the funeral spaces of the Etruscans. In fact, despite not knowing much of Etruscan ways in their daily life, we know nearly everything of their funeral practices due to archaeological sites such as this one. The only tumulous which could not be fully explored, apart from those filled with water, was the Tomba dei Rilievi which was closed off by a glass window due to having still some remaining frescoes and funerary decorations on the walls. Another nice addition was that for some tombs an interactive light and sound show would take place when the entrance was approached together with pressing a button on the audioguide. As we walked through the paths leading through the tombs we then encountered some later types of tumuli which were called "dice style" as the consisted of a long stretch of squared tombs lined along the side of the way, compared to the more traditional round ones. As we continued we tried to see literally every possible tomb we encountered, admiring them all as if it was the first time we saw one. They were extremely interesting and worth visiting. In the end, we spent several areas walking through the archaeological site. Once we were done we stopped to talk with one of the guardians about the site and other places in the region. Then it was time to go, so after another hour walking, we finally reached the train station once more from where we took our ride back to Rome.