Tarquinia, Lazio

Selina found this stopover at the last minute after we decided that the leg from Porto Ercole to Rome was too long.  For the first time, we tried an Agriturismo stop and we have to say we are really impressed! It is 10€ per night including water, sewerage and electric, which is amongst the best value we have found. Essentially, a section of the farm is set aside for camping cars.  There are fresh water and electric on each pitch and a separate area for grey water and black water – just like a proper campsite.

We chilled out for the afternoon and the next day we spent the day wandering the town.  A highlight was the Monterozzi Necropolis.  There are believed to be 600 burials on the top of the hill just outside the town. These date to the Etruscan period – around 500 BC.  The burials are about 15 feet underground. Around 50 have been fully excavated and a handful are able to be viewed. They are underground caverns hewn from the rock and then plastered and painted with murals depicting Etruscan life.  Well, Etruscan death really.

The excavated tombs are empty apart from the murals – the sister museum in the town holds many of the artefacts discovered. Although many of the graves were already robbed during the last couple of thousand years, there is still plenty to see of the Etruscan burial customs!  So that was the afternoon gone!

Next, we set out for Rome!