On the long Monterozzi ridge beside the modern town of Tarquinia, thousands of rock-cut tombs preserve evidence of the Etruscan city once known as Tarchuna. The cemetery extends across a broad plateau between the coast and the ancient settlement on the Civita height. UNESCO counts about 6,000 tombs at Monterozzi, many cut into the rock and once marked by tumuli; around 200 are known for painted chambers. The numbers describe an archaeological landscape, not a single building open from end to end. The portion visitors can enter is selected and managed, while much of the ancient cemetery remains underground, closed or outside the public route.
Tarquinia is part of the UNESCO property “Etruscan Necropolises of Cerveteri and Tarquinia,” inscribed in 2004. The two components illuminate different aspects of funerary culture: Cerveteri’s Banditaccia is known for tombs arranged in an urban-like plan, while Monterozzi is especially important for its painted chambers. Together they testify to Etruscan civilization from the ninth to the first century BCE. At Tarquinia, the practice of painting elite tombs is documented from the seventh to the second century BCE, spanning much of the life of the ancient city.
