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ETRUSCAN – Discovering the jewels of an ancient civilization (max 50 min drive)

Tarquinia’s harsh white rock is barely protected by a grassy carpet and is interspersed by the world-famous (UNESCO World Heritage Site) painted tombs plunging into the Etruscan daily life by colourfully representing plays, dances and banquets. Well worth a visit is the National Museum housed in the magnificent 16th century Palazzo Vitelleschi.

Sutri its 7-hectare park is a wealth of archaeological sites, landscape and nature within the regional network of parks and reserves. Spread over a plateau of tuff, in the upper part there is Villa Savorelli (home of the Park) whilst in the valley, in the stretch close to the urban center of Sutri, you can visit some of Tuscia’s most important archeological beauties such as the spectacular amphitheater, the necropolis and the Church of Our Lady del Parto (formerly a Mithraeum).

Tuscania, Norchia, Castel d’Asso, Vejo, Barbarano Romano are also of interest with their necropolis engraved in tuff, a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is compacted into solid rock used in Etruscan civilisations dating back to the VI-II centuries B.C.. Vulci boasts remains of roads, baths, nature reserve.

The imposing Vie Cave (excavated roads), known in Italian as Cavoni deserve a special tour: they form an impressive road network linking an Etruscan necropolis and several settlements in the area surrounding Sovana, Sorano and Pitigliano. They consist of trenches excavated to form vertical cliffs in tuff, sometimes over twenty feet high, possibly serving as an effective defense system against invaders. The Romans incorporated them into part of a road system that was connected to the main trunk of the Via Clodia, the ancient road linking Rome to Manciano (Tuscany) through the city of Tuscania, used for troop movement and commercial traffic.

 

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Etruscan - Discovering the jewels of an ancient civilization

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