Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
MUSEO NAZIONALE ETRUSCO DI VILLA GIULIA
Italy's finest collection of Etruscan treasures is considerately presented in Villa Giulia, Pope Julius III's elegant
There are thousands of exhibits, many of which came from burial tombs in the surrounding Lazio region, ran-
ging from domestic utensils and terracotta vases to extraordinary bronze figurines, black
bucchero
tableware and
dazzling jewellery.
Must-sees include a polychrome terracotta statue of an armless Apollo, from the Etruscan town of Veio, just
north of Rome, and the Euphronios Krater, a celebrated Greek vase that was returned to Italy in 2008 after a
30-year tug of war between the Italian government and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. But perhaps the
museum's most famous piece is the 6th-century-BC Sarcofago degli Sposi (Sarcophagus of the Betrothed). This as-
tonishing work, originally unearthed in 400 broken pieces in a tomb in Cerveteri, depicts a husband and wife re-
clining on a stone banqueting couch. And although called a sarcophagus, it was actually designed as an elaborate
urn to hold the couple's ashes.
DON'T MISS
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Sarcofago degli Sposi
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Apollo di Veio
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Euphronios Krater
PRACTICALITIES
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MAP
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06 322 65 71
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Piazzale di Villa Giulia
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adult/reduced €8/4
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Villa Giulia 8.30am-7.30pm Tue-Sun, Villa Poniatowski 9am-1.45pm Tue-Sat
