BEFORE THE ROMANS

Explore the heritage and retrace the rise and fall of Italy’s mysterious ancient inhabitants. This full-day tour of Cerveteri and the Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia will give you insight into the history and accomplishments of the population that ruled over central Italy for centuries before being defeated by the invincible Roman Empire.

You will meet your private guide and driver at your accommodation and begin your day with a 50-minute ride to Cerveteri. Here you will have the exciting opportunity to take a close look at an age-old necropolis and step into the intimate underworld of a fascinating civilization. The Etruscans are known for being valorous warriors, clever engineers, artistically refined and fond of a luxurious lifestyle. Although their cities are long gone, their cemetery still allows us to gain a vivid impression of how they lived thousands of years ago.

Spanning over six centuries and stretching for more than two kilometres, the UNESCO-listed Necropoli della Banditaccia is one of the largest cities of the dead in the Mediterranean area. Hundreds of monumental tombs, arranged according to an urban-like design, composed of streets, small squares and neighbourhoods, are the only surviving traces of Etruscan city planning and residential architecture and thus offer priceless information about how a pre-Roman settlement might have looked between the 9th and 3rd centuries BC. These burial chambers, considered permanent dwellings for the deceased, were carved to simulate the interior of residential homes, with several rooms, pillars, gabled roofs, stone couches and furnishings. The profusion of goods originally found inside, such as tableware, vases, bronze artefacts, weapons and jewellery, makes an unmistakable statement about their wealth and desire to preserve a lifestyle of the highest quality when they reached the next world.

Return to Rome to enjoy some free time for lunch and later head for Villa Giulia. Built for Pope Julius III between 1550 and 1555, since 1889 this beautiful Renaissance villa has been home to Italy’s finest collection of Etruscan treasures and pre-Roman antiquities. The artefacts on display, mostly found in tombs located in the region of Latium, include bronze figurines, terracotta vases, tableware, jewellery, temple decorations, tools and weapons. Among the museum’s highlights are the Cista Ficoroni, a 4th century BC jewellery box; the famous statue of Apollo that once used to decorate a temple in the ancient town of Veio; the 6th century BC terracotta Sarcophagus of the Spouses, featuring almost life-size figures supposedly lounging at a banquet in the afterlife.