What is Tarquinia known for?

Around 200 frescoed Etruscan tomb chambers at Monterozzi, the largest body of pre-Roman painting in the Mediterranean. The Cavalli Alati terracottas from the Ara della Regina temple, fourth-century BC, displayed in the Palazzo Vitelleschi museum. Official Città della Ceramica for the medieval and contemporary workshops in the upper town.

Tarquinia is a comune in the province of Viterbo, Lazio region of Italy, about 92 kilometers from Roma.

Lazio · Viterbo

Tarquinia

An Etruscan capital on a Maremma ridge whose 6,000 rock-cut tombs at Monterozzi hold the largest body of pre-Roman painting in the Mediterranean.

92 km / 57 mi

Nearest hub (Roma)

15,942

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Tarquinia sits on a plateauabove the Maremma plain in northern Lazio, six kilometers inland from the Tyrrhenian coast. The Etruscan city of Tarquinii stood on the adjacent Colle della Civita and was one of the twelve great Etruscan capitals, ringed by eight kilometers of sixth-century walls enclosing 135 hectares. What survives above ground is mostly medieval: the present town moved here in the Middle Ages and was renamed Corneto until 1922, when Mussolini's regime restored the ancient name. What survives below ground is what made the place a UNESCO site in 2004. The Monterozzi necropolis on the hill east of town holds 6,000 rock-cut tombs from the seventh century BC onward, and around two hundred of them carry painted interiors. The frescoed banquets, dancers, hunters and musicians inside Tarquinia's tombs are the largest body of pre-Roman painting in the Mediterranean. The Palazzo Vitelleschi in the upper town houses the national museum and the Winged Horses terracottas.

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Gallery

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Known for

Necropoli dei Monterozzi
UNESCO Etruscan necropolis on the hill east of the medieval town, 6,000 rock-cut tombs with around 200 painted interiors from the 7th century BC onward.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale Tarquiniense
Housed in the 15th-century Palazzo Vitelleschi, with Etruscan sarcophagi, painted slabs and the famous Cavalli Alati terracottas.
Palazzo Vitelleschi
Early Renaissance palace built between 1436 and 1439 for Cardinal Vitelleschi, blending Gothic and Renaissance elements in a single façade.
Chiesa di Santa Maria di Castello
Romanesque-Lombard church begun in 1121 inside the medieval walls, with a cosmatesque pavement and a marble pulpit signed by Giovanni di Guittone.
Civita archaeological area
Remains of Etruscan Tarquinii on the adjacent plateau, with sections of the 6th-century walls and the Ara della Regina sanctuary.
Centro storico medievale
Medieval upper town fortified with towers and gates, threaded with vaulted alleys and the surviving ceramic workshops that earned the Città della Ceramica title.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September through October are the strongest months. The Maremma light is clean, the tomb interiors stay cool, and the wind off the Tyrrhenian keeps the plateau comfortable. July and August are workable but hot; the underground necropolis is the right place to be in the middle of the day, and Lido di Tarquinia six kilometers downhill takes the evening crowd. Winter is quiet. Some tomb chambers close on rotation for conservation, but the Palazzo Vitelleschi museum stays open and the upper town empties enough to walk the medieval walls without company. The Maremma wind in November is the same wind that scoured the Etruscan necropolis for twenty-six centuries.