We walked to the train station and took a 13 minute train (cost only €1.50) to the Tarquinia station. We walked about two miles up to the old walled hill town, where fortunately the TI office was open. Armed with a map, we continued uphill for another half hour until we exited the city walls and eventually reached the Etruscan necropolis.
The old city center of Tarquinia is well preserved and charming. We saw a few other people walking to the necropolis. The city was practically tourist free and we saw no other Americans. From the city heights one sees the Mediterranean to the west and rolling hills to the north and west.
The painted Etruscan tombs which drew us here are spread across a plateau near the one on which the Etruscan city stood. The exact origin of the Etruscans remains a mystery. They were an Italian civilisation that flourished in (and gave it’s name to) the region that includes Tuscany. The Etruscans retained aspects of a primitive world, yet successfully traded and had cultural exchanges with Greeks and civilisations in southern Italy and surrounding islands.
The Etruscan necropolis was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. UNESCO describes them as “the first chapter in the history of great Italian painting.” The tombs date from the 7th to 1st century B.C. Depictions in the oldest tombs show favorite activities from daily life, including hunting, fishing, music and dance. The later tombs include demons and the underworld, illustrating the influence of Greek mythology. Death then brought apprehension as well as sorrow.
Over 6000 family tombs are believed to be in the necropolis. About 200 of them are decorated with frescoes. The ancient tombs were first rediscovered by the remains of small mounds or hillocks over the graves. Today they are accessed through small buildings built over steep stairs descending down to the tombs. Twenty two of them are open to the public. Signs outside each tell the name of the tomb, its age and what can be seen inside.
It takes a few minutes to adjust to the dark, but the stairways all are dimly lit and have handrails. At the bottom of the stairs is a glass or plexiglas window. One presses a button and the room beyond is illuminated for several seconds.
On the back wall is a woman dancing on the left, and a couple on the right. Two servants flank a large vessel. The panthers above them and the leaping dolphins frieze encircling the room are a recurring theme in the tombs. Two large reclining men are on the side walls. The painted poles and ceiling create the illusion of being in a tent.
A man hunts birds with a slingshot while men fish from a boat
More panthers and activities of daily life in another tomb decorated as a tent. (Mark waves in the reflection near the top)
One of the later tombs, this shows the god Charon waiting to ferry the newly dead across the river Styx while a child and adults wait to greet him.
Scattered about the necropolis are collections of primitive funerary jars used by a culture that preceded the Etruscans. The people cremated their dead, broke up the larger bones, and buried them in the jars.
We walked back to Tarquinia and wandered the cobblestone streets. There were at least a half dozen small churches from the 11th-13th century, several medieval towers and many tidy narrow alleyways.
We made it back to the ship just in time for dinner. We saw a Cirque du Soliel show on the ship this evening. It was fun, but no comparison to the great time we all had at karaoke last night. Erin and Bryan brought down the house with their rapping chops!
I
