Cerveteri is an ancient Etruscan city-state that once played a major role in the Union of Cities of Etruria. During the heyday of Cerveteri, its population reached 25 thousand people. The Romans conquered and destroyed the Etruscan cities in the IV-V centuries, and today information about the history of this ancient and mysterious people has to be collected literally bit by bit.
There are very few Etruscan buildings left in Italy, and the main "material" for archaeologists is ancient burials - necropolises. A huge number of such tombs were found in Cerveteri: the local Etruscan necropolis is considered the largest in Italy.
The area of the “city of the dead” in Cerveteri with its “houses”, “streets” and “avenues” is 250 hectares!
Excavations in Cerveteri continue to this day, and the most valuable finds are on display in the Etruscan Museum in Rome and in the Etruscan Gregorian Museum in the Vatican.
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Cerveteri is located about 50 kilometers from Rome.