Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Meet the Etruscans
In the 1920s, DH Lawrence spent several years living in Italy. He became fascinated
by Etruria, the sophisticated civilisation that developed from around 800BC in what is
today Tuscany and Lazio, and suggested in his book
Etruscan Places
: 'Italy today is
far more Etruscan in its pulse, than Roman: and will always be so.'
The Etruscan necropolis of Banditaccia (
Click here
), Cerveteri
DE AGOSTINI / GETTY IMAGES ©
A Great Civilisation
The Etruscans have a mysterious reputation, and yet much of their handiwork still sur-
vives, mainly discovered in lavish cemeteries, which you can visit in Lazio at Cerve-
teri and Tarquinia. Cerveteri is an entire town of tombs; the tombs at Tarquinia are
lined with breathtaking paintings. The Etruscans were master sailors, soldiers, archi-
tects, metalworkers, and artists, and you can see many artefacts at museums in Rome,
Cerveteri, Tarquinia and Viterbo.
