Cervèteri is an Italian town of 38 423 inhabitants in the
metropolitan city of Rome which dates back to the Etruscan-Roman
era. It overlooks the Tyrrhenian Sea and is 42 km away from Rome and
about 65 from Viterbo.
From Cerveteri you can access the
Etruscan Necropolis of Sorbo and the Etruscan Necropolis of
Banditaccia, one of the most monumental necropolis of the
Mediterranean Sea, declared in 2004 by Unesco, together with that of
Tarquinia, a world heritage site.
Climate
classification: zone D, 1450 GR / G
Climate zone 9a (USDA). Warm
temperate (Koppen).
Cerveteri rises where the ancient city of Agylla is
located, Άγυλλα (for the Greeks), later called Caere by the
Etruscans. Its modern name derives from Caere Vetus, so called in
the thirteenth century to distinguish it from Caere Novum (the
current Ceri). Other ancient toponyms of the city are Cisra (for the
Etruscans).
The city of Cerveteri has a very ancient history,
presumably dating back to the mid-9th century BC, as evidenced by
some archaeological research that has made it possible to ascertain
the presence of a stable occupation of the area with inhabited
settlements and related Etruscan necropolis.
According to the
historiographic tradition, the city was founded by the Pelasgians
with the name of Agylla, and then conquered by the Etruscans, who
changed its name to Caere.
The events of Caere are first
linked to the conflict between the Greek and Etruscan cities for the
dominance of trade in Italy, and more generally in the Tyrrhenian
Sea, and then between the Etruscan ones and Rome, even if for a long
time the city maintained the status of ally From Rome.
In the
first half of the 5th century BC (between 541 and 535 BC)
Caere-Agylla fought among the Etruscan forces allied with the
Carthaginians against the Focei in the naval battle known as the
Battle of the Sardinian Sea. Although the naval battle ended with
the victory of Phocaea, in fact the Etruscans and Carthaginians
blocked the Greek expansion in the western Tyrrhenian Sea.
Although Caere, as an Etruscan city, was in centuries-old contrast
with Rome for its dominance in central Italy, in 387 BC, when the
Gauls of Brenno sacked Rome, it supported the rival city. First the
city gave refuge to the vestals and to those who had fled from Rome
attacked by the Gauls, then attacked the same Gauls in Sabina on the
way back, managing to deprive them of the loot plundered in Rome.
Following the submission of the Etruscan cities to Roman rule in
the 4th century BC, Caere became part of the Roman world, as a
Municipia sine suffragio.
Despite the general decay of the
Italian cities following the fall of Rome, Caere had to maintain a
certain importance, given that we find listed at least eight
particular bishops, the Episcopus Cerensis, the last of which
Benedict in 1029.
Between the eighth and eleventh centuries,
as reported in the documents of the emperors Louis the Pious, Otto I
and Henry II, the Santo Caere was governed directly by the papacy.
Subsequently it had to lose importance, if in 1192, from the Censi
book of the Roman Church, Caere depends on the bishopric of Portus.
Between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, part of its
population had to move to a nearby locality, Cere Novum, which is
distinct from the old one, Cere Vetere, as shown in a bull of 1236
by Pope Gregory IX. During the thirteenth century it belonged to the
Normans Alberteschi from which it subsequently passed to other noble
families, such as the Corsicans from which between the end of the
thirteenth century and the mid-fifteenth century it belonged to the
Venturini who ceded it to the Anguillara. Excommunicated by Paul II,
it passed to Bartolomeo Giuppo nephew of Sixtus IV who ceded it in
1487 to Franceschetto Cybo together with Monterano, Rota and Ischia
which shortly after were sold to the Orsini who, except for a brief
parenthesis in which it was removed by the Farnese during the middle
of the 16th century, they kept it until they were forced to sell it
in 1674 to the Ruspoli, who in 1709 then had the title of prince.
In the following centuries it resized itself as an agricultural
center and, only in the twentieth century, as a tourist and
archaeological center. During the Second World War, two military
airports (or better airfields) were operational in the municipal
territory, the Cerveteri airport and the Furbara airport, which, in
the evolution of the Italian Campaign, were also taken into
consideration , by the Allies, as possible bases to be used for the
offensive on Rome.
On the Furbara site, which was also an
aerial firing range, before entering the war, during an exercise,
Mussolini demonstrated the efficiency of Italian aircraft to Hitler,
who came to attend these demonstrations with his hierarchs, which
took place in Naples. for the Navy and precisely in Furbara for the
Air Force.
In 1949 it received the hamlet of Ladispoli from the municipality
of Civitavecchia; in 1970 the fraction became an autonomous
municipality.
The necropolis of Cerveteri, together with
Tarquinia, were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004,
because they constitute a unique and exceptional testimony of the
ancient Etruscan civilization, the only urban civilization of the
pre-Roman era in Italy.
Civil architectures
Ruspoli Palace
Granarone
Old Town Hall
Rocca
Griffins Houses
Religious architectures
In
Cerveteri there are many churches, including:
Church of Santa
Maria Maggiore: it is the most important church in the area, seat of
an archpriesthood, consisting of an ancient church, dated around the
year 1000, in Romanesque style, and a new one from 1950, which is
part of the first.
Church of the Madonna dei Canneti: small
country church, marks the end of the center and the beginning of the
new part. It dates back to the eighteenth century and is in the
Roman-Baroque style. It is a sanctuary.
Church of the Pietà:
called in dialect "Ossara" is the small chapel of the old cemetery.
Church of Sant'Antonio Abate: it is a small church with three naves,
also built around the year 1000.
Church of San Michele Arcangelo:
it is the church dedicated to the patron saint, dating back to 1756.
Church of San Rocco: no longer existing, it stood on the street of
the same name, now a palace stands in its place.
Sanctuary of the
Immaculate Virgin in the hamlet of Ceri: called "Madonna di Ceri"
Church of San Francesco d'Assisi, in the locality of Cerenova
Church of Sant'Eugenio, in the locality of I Terzi
Church of San
Felice: it is a church in the hamlet of Ceri, where it is believed
that the "miracle of the oxen", also known as the Madonna della
Cava, took place.
Church of Santa Croce: it is the church of the
"Sasso" village.
Church of Sant'Antonino, stands on the Via
Aurelia in Furbara, incorporated in the Pallavicini farmhouse,
within the "Monte Tosto" estate.
Sanctuary of Sant'Antonio Abate
on Monte Santo
Chapel of Sant'Antonio Abate in the Mola valley:
it is a small chapel dedicated to Sant'Antonio to protect animals.
Church of the Holy Trinity: it is the other parish of Cerveteri,
which, housed for some time in a garage, now has its new
headquarters in the same place where the first one stood;
consecration took place on 1 July 2012.
Church of San Sebastiano:
it is a church of Ceri.
Church of the Vergine Lauretana: it is
the church of the Due Casette.
Church of San Martino: is the
church of Borgo San Martino.
Church of San Martino: it was a
church, no longer existing today, which stood in front of the
fountain of the Mascherone and was demolished in 1881.
Church of
the Sacred Heart: it is the church of Valcanneto.
Church of the
Madonna del Piano, located at the junction for Cerenova, was built
following the reclamation, today it houses the tombs of the Ruspoli
family.
Church of San Pietro (Cerveteri), disappeared. It is
rumored that his remains could be admired under the Church of San
Michele Arcangelo in the homonymous district.
Church of San Paolo
(Cerveteri), its 3 apses emerge from the ruins of Casal dei Guitti.
Church of San Michele Arcangelo, now used as a "finilessa", is the
church where St. Michael, according to legend, rang the bells to
warn citizens of the approach of the Saracens.
Oratory of San
Michele.
Church of the Madonna di Carpineto: is a church in the
hamlet of Ceri
Church of Santa Maria della Fonte, was located
next to the washer.
Chapel of Santa Maria della Fonte, was
located next to the fountain of the Mascherone.
Buon Consiglio
Church, stands on the Torlonia palace, in Ceri.
Church of Saints
John and Paul, located in the Lutheran valley.
Monastery of the
Magdalene
Archaeological sites
Necropolis of Banditaccia:
complex of Etruscan tombs, it represents one of the most important
necropolis for the beauty and size of the tombs and the importance
of the finds found; of particular value is the Sarcophagus of the
Spouses which is now in the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia
in Rome.
The necropolis extends for about 400
hectares and there are many thousands of burials (the fenced and
open part is only 10 hectares and has about 400 tumuli), from the
oldest of the Villanovan period (9th century BC) to the most recent
"of the Hellenistic period (III century BC). Its origin is to be
found in a nucleus of Villanovan tombs in the locality of Cava della
Pozzolana, and the name "Banditaccia" derives from the fact that
from the end of the nineteenth century the area was "banned", that
is, rented by public tender, by the landowners of Cerveteri to favor
of the local population. Given its grandeur, the Necropolis of
Banditaccia is the largest ancient necropolis in the entire
Mediterranean area.
The oldest burials are Villanovan (from
the 9th century BC to the 8th century BC), and are characterized by
the well shape, where the ashes of the deceased were kept, or by the
pits for burial.
From the 7th century BC, during the
Orientalizing period there are mainly large mounds. The tumulus
burials are characterized by a tufaceous structure with a circular
plan that contains a representation of the deceased's house,
complete with a corridor (dromos) to access the various rooms. The
wealth of details of the interior of these tombs has allowed
archaeologists to learn about the home uses of the Etruscans. The
"Tomba della Capanna", the "Tumulo Maroi" and the "Tumulo
Mengarelli" belong to this period.
In the 5th century BC the
tumulus tombs were replaced by the "cube" ones. The latter consist
of a long row of tombs regularly aligned along sepulchral streets.
In the accessible part of the Necropolis of the Banditaccia there
are two of these streets, via dei Monti Ceriti and via dei Monti
della Tolfa, dating back to the 6th century BC.
The most
"recent" burials are from the third century BC, a period of Etruscan
Hellenization. The most representative burial of this period appears
to be the "Tomb of the Reliefs", dating back to the 4th century BC.
and belonged to the Matunas family, as can be read in the
inscriptions: the interior of the tomb has remained in particularly
good condition, allowing you to also observe the frescoes on the
walls and columns (for this reason, in fact, this tomb is the only
one in the It is forbidden that it cannot be visited - but the
interior is visible through a glass - due to the particular delicacy
of the frescoes).
Many of the artifacts found in the
necropolis are collected in the National Etruscan Museum of Villa
Giulia in Rome and in many other museums around the world, while
only a small part of the funeral objects found on site are kept in
the Cerite National Museum. Since July 2004 the necropolis of
Banditaccia, together with that of the Monterozzi di Tarquinia, has
become part of the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In 2012 a
multimedia tour was inserted inside some tombs, in order to recreate
what the environment was in antiquity and in the period in which
they were discovered.
Between 1909 and 1936 Raniero Mengarelli began to lead the excavations. In 1927 he worked on the main sepulchral street, which was later called "Via degli inferi". The work was aimed at finding precious objects from an artistic and cultural point of view. After a long period of standstill in which the area was abandoned, in 1960 the excavations were resumed by the archaeologist Mario Moretti, in particular in the area of the "new enclosure" and the "large tumoli". In the 80s Mauro Cristofani worked in the area of the ancient civita, a work that was then continued by the National Research Council.
Necropolis of Monte Abatone (Torlonia Tomb and Tumulo Campana)
Via degli Inferi: it is a road artery deeply excavated in the tuff,
which was created by the walls of the city of Caere to connect the
city of the living with the great necropolis of Banditaccia. It is a
place of dark and profound suggestion.
Necropolis of the Greppe
di Sant'Angelo.
Necropolis of the rowan.
Natural Monument Swamp of Torre Flavia (SPA)
Tolfetano-Cerite-Manziate District (SPA)
Monte Tosto (ZSC)
Sughereta del Sasso (ZSC)