Private Etruscan History Tour from Civitavecchia: Tarquinia and Tuscania

Housed within Palazzo Vitelleschi, the National Etruscan Museum of Tarquinia is beyond doubt among the main attractions of the city. The Palazzo Vitelleschi deserves a visit for itself! Built by Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi between 1436 and 1439 with a design by Giovanni Dalmata, thanks to the simultaneous presence of Gothic and Renaissance elements and a true architectural masterpiece.

The Etruscan Necropolis of Monterozzi is located over an upland east of Tarquinia (Viterbo) and counts with approximately 6,000 tombs, most of them spaces digged into the rock and surmounted by tumulus, the oldest of them dating back to the seventh century BC

A nice walk through the narrow streets of the Historical Center of Tarquinia.In Piazza Giacomo Matteotti where you will find the Palazzo Comunale, the monumental eighteenth-century fountain

The splendid Romanesque Church of Saint Mary in the Castle deserves a chapter on its own. The church is situated in the oldest part of Tarquinia, where the Castrum Cargnetum was located, originating the nucleus of ancient Corneto. To reach it, you have to walk along Via di Porta Castello, cross the ancient gate with the Tower of Dante and the Tower of Matilde di Canossa in the background. A few steps to be catapulted 1000 years back! The atmosphere here is simply magical, especially at night when the streets are illuminated only by the light of the street-lamps... the ideal place for a romantic walk in history.

The Cathedral of Saints Margherita and Martino, built around 1260, is located in the square with the same name a few steps from Palazzo Vitelleschi and it is part of the diocese of Civitavecchia and Tarquinia. Raised to the rank of Cathedral on 5 December 1435, during the fifteenth century the cathedral was enlarged by Bishop Bartolomeo Vitelleschi then it was unfortunately destroyed in 1643 by a terrible fire.

Based in the Franciscan Monastery founded in 1247, adjacent to the Church of s. Maria del Riposo. The first section of the Museum was opened in 1988; consists of 4 rooms on the ground floor where exposes the funerary complex of noble Hellenistic period (IV-II sec.a.C.). Of particular importance are the funerary complex from three rock tombs of Curunas family: next to nenfro sarcophagi with lids restituenti all round the figure of the deceased, faliscan, ceramics are ceretane, vulcenti and/or tarquiniesi, and chiusine. Of particular importance in materials related to bronze or female world banquet. In 1997 were open to the public 2 upstairs rooms, one dedicated to the history of the monastery and the old centre of Tuscania, the other to the oldest testimonies from necropolis (VII century BC). Forthcoming is the opening of new exhibition sections.