There are so many good reasons to come to visit Tarquinia and the first is surely the extraordinary Etruscan necropolis of Monterozzi, a magnificence that has been included by UNESCO among the World Heritage Sites together with that of Cerveteri.
The necropolis includes about 6,000 tombs but there are 62 UNESCO heritage tombs that leave you speechless: chamber tombs in which you go down some stairs from the town level to enter the rooms carved into the rock and painted with bright and vivid colours.
A unique emotion seizes you that increases if you then try to get into the head of someone who has had the tomb painted, the subjects depicted are very different from each other and perhaps represent the variety of human personalities. While the wealth of the places can be admired at the National Etruscan Museum of Tarquinia right in the centre of the town in the magnificent Palazzo Vitelleschi.
The Etruscans represented many banquet scenes in their tombs, perhaps to represent the afterlife but in any case they were certainly scenes that took place even in real life. As in the Tomb of the Warrior with musicians and dancers in a banquet over 2500 years ago (the tomb dates back to 520 BC) or in the Tomb of the Jugglers (the tomb dates back to 510 BC) where acrobats and jugglers are represented who animate the festivities so very modern a way and that today we would call buskers.
In some tombs the doors of the afterlife are represented and sometimes it is the dead who watch the living banquet in a strange game of emotions of life.
The Etruscans were a mysterious people who started Rome, the first kings of Rome were all Etruscans and some historians say that Rome began as an Etruscan city. A population of engineers, to see the numerous remains of aqueducts and canals found in the countryside of the Lazio countryside, by artists, as can be seen precisely in the frescoed tombs of the necropolis of Monterozzi in Tarquinia.
But also they were a people of gourmets and to the Etruscans we owe the arrival of the cultivation of the vine and the production of wine from the East around the seventh century BC. The success was so great that for many years Italy was called with the name Enotria, that is to say Terra del Vino (Land of Wine). Although the name derives from the Greek character Enotrio who brought the first vine shoots, a vine cutting from which another plant can be born.
To underline the passion for good food and wine, King Mezenzio had established the Vinalia festival on April 23rd and the god Fufluns (germoglio - sprout) can be considered the parallel of the Greek God Dionysus, one who liked feasts and above all the wine.
All the winemaking techniques of the Etruscans are known and also the particular way in which they drank it by mixing it with water, honey, spices, grated cheese and other substances according to the creativity of the person.
After visiting the necropolis what could be better than going for a chat in front of a nice dish while sipping wine?
In Tarquinia there are two equally suggestive choices (for which it is advisable to stay two days and try both): go to the medieval old town with the large terrace near the Archelogical Museum overlooking the sea a place that offers enchanting sunsets. Eating in one of the alleys is an experience, especially if you taste the famous ancient grain pasta that some farmers have begun to plant again in the Tolfa. And to think that this was always one of the best areas for cereal cultivation that had been abandoned with the mechanization of agriculture.
Today the ancient seeds and ancient techniques of milling and preparing pasta have returned.
For seasonings there is no doubt: let us advise you but follow the season. Roman artichokes are particularly tasty because they come from the nearby Cerveteri where they grow on ‘savoury’ volcanic soils rich in minerals. In fact all the vegetables grown in this area reflect positively the richness of the soil.
The meat you need to taste is that of the Veal of Maremma, bred in the pristine pastures of the Monti della Tolfa where the famous Caciofiore cheese of Columella, the ancestor of Pecorino Romano, is still produced today following the description given by Columella in his treatise on 1st century AD. Maybe put some of the local honey on top.
If instead you are a bit more expansive, take advantage of the visit to the necropolis to go to the sandy beaches of Tarquinia for a sunbake and a swim in the clear waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. In this case we recommend a meal based on fish, especially the local one which is generally the blue fish or what is called a 'paranza', taken from the name of the fishing boats.
The oil certainly must be that of Tuscia and try it on toasted bread to taste it to the full, with or without salt depending on your tastes, while I also add a little garlic.
And the wine is that of the local Wine Route and are products of Etruria on which the famous Tarquinia DOC stands. The Etruscans have left their mark!
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