South of Civitavecchia on the highway to Rome is the town of Cerveteri, and while the medieval town itself is very pretty, Cerveteri is famous as the site of one of Etruscan civilization’s largest and most prosperous city-states, Caere, and for the remarkable necropoli of Banditaccia, a UNESCO World Heritage site and are the largest necropilis in the Mediterranean.

There are over 1000 tombs of various types dated from the 9th century BC till the late Etruscan period in the third century BC, many carved from living rock featuring central halls, rooms, and corridors. The Tomb of the Reliefs is the mot famous, and features an exceptional series of frescoes, bas-reliefs and sculptures portraying a large series of contemporary Etruscan life.