Tour audio Introduction

Imagine walking through the bustling downtown area of a large city. You would find yourself immersed in a lively, hectic environment.

Along the way, you would see crowds of people heading to work or making their way home; store signs lining up on the sidewalks along with cafés where people grab a quick breakfast, and newsstands displaying front pages of major newspapers, a post office, the police station.

You would pass by various public buildings, both secular and religious such as the cathedral, city hall, schools, hospitals, sports grounds and theatres. The roadway would be filled with a wide range of vehicles: cars, motorbikes, buses and bicycles moving swiftly or caught in rush hour traffic jams.

In short, you would be at the heart of the country's public life, where the most important events of society take place.

But if you choose to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and head down the road leading to the suburbs, you would find yourself in a very different environment. 

A secluded quarter, separated from the city, rich with greenery, quiet and serene. Every city has its own places where the remains of entire communities are usually laid to rest. As you walk through such a place, you might feel as if you are wandering through a strange, almost otherworldly town, the town of the dead.

You would find yourself in neighbourhoods arranged along real streets, realizing that the burials come in a wide variety of designs, from simple graves to family chapels and even grand mausoleums.

You would also encounter stopovers, like squares or quiet corners with plants, shrubs and flowers, perfect spots to pause and reflect, surrounded by thousands of graves in every direction.

The road you have travelled from Cerveteri across the Manganello creek and down the tree-lined avenue, is the very same path the Etruscans of ancient Kaisra, the original name for Cerveteri, would have taken to visit their departed loved ones.

Actually, the large structures you see before you are not the ruins of Etruscans’ homes but the resting places of their dead. I will share with you some of their history, why they built these monuments, their attitude toward death, their views on the afterlife and how their customs evolved over time. We will discover that these ancient tombs can still reveal countless details of etruscan culture and daily life.

Welcome to the largest necropolis of the ancient world: welcome to the Necropolis of Banditaccia.

You are listening to the audio guide of the Necropolis of Banditaccia, produced by the Archeological Park of Cerveteri and Tarquinia.

I am Frank and I’ll be your guide as we explore the enclosed ground of this outstanding Necropolis together.

Project and idea by Daniele Deidda

Texts by Luca Bianchi

Audio editing by Daniele Deidda 

Italian narration by Manuel D'Aleo and Eleonora Dominici

French translation and narration by Silvia Giulietti

English translation and narration by Frank Fuda