Port 60 Civitavecchia, Italy

by Ed · May 3, 2022

Buono giorno!

We come in to Civitavecchia’s harbor early on Apr 28th, 2022. Happy Italian Liberation Day!

Even as we tie up to the dock we see another cruise ship coming in on our heels. And I spy a ferry that appears to have Batman painted on the side!

I have a tour to see the “Aromas and Flavors of the Etruscans” while Joy goes to play with dogs in “His Majesty the Truffle”! On the bus ride out I look for that ferry and am surprised wot Wonder Woman gracing the entire port side of the ferry! I could not confirm the Batman sighting.

The drive to Tarquinia is a brief 20 minute drive! Nice! The countryside we see is lush and beautiful!

We pass an old Roman aqueduct. Micky, our tour guide, tells us this might not be true Roman, but rather may be a more recent build using Roman techniques. I favor this being ancient and authentic. A newer build would not have allowed itself to be so deteriorated across the top!

We arrive at our first stop – an Etruscan necropolis – a city of the dead.

I am pleased to confirm this is a UNESCO World Heritage Site!

The Etruscans built a city a half mile north of here on a different hilltop. On this hilltop they chose to bury their dead. At first they started with these urn-like rock “jars” to hold cremated remains. This is not how they were found. These crypts were placed in holes and were buried. Each of these is about two feet in diameter and about three feet tall. So the stones weigh hundreds of pounds each, top and bottom. The remains in these containers were in smaller urns, surrounded by jars and vases.

Later, the Etruscans moved to more elaborate tombs. The structures you see here are not the tombs, but they protect the tombs that have been opened for public viewing. The tombs we are here to see are underground!

Let’s begin with this. This one hut actually covers the entries to two tombs, Leoness and Fiori di Loto.

Stairs down to a subterranean tomb are a common theme, so this is a common scene for most of the graves.

We begin with the Leoness tomb. Etruscan tombs were carved out of rock to resemble little houses, with peaked roofs, and often with beds for the dead. Tombs typically held one or two corpses. The tombs were painted with frescoes in relatively elaborate designs reflecting the person’s position and state of the household.

This is Fiori di Loto, and has a female panther on the left and female lion on the right. It is believed that the painting of these animals that are not found here indicate the person was well-traveled and brought back images similar to these.

Next is the Cacciatore tomb. This one has a frieze of horses galloping around the tomb, along with a procession of animals normally hunted. Ducks hang by their beaks. This is a hunter’s theme! “Cacciatore” means “hunter”!!

This next is Della Caccia e Pesca. This one is unusual because of the additional chamber in the back. The front chamber, like the previous tomb, also has a hunting theme.

The rear chamber also has a hunting theme, with birds being hunted by bow and slingshot. A couple dining together at the top are assumed to be the couple who commissioned the tomb.

The next tomb is the Dei Leopardi tomb. Two leopards grace the triangular fronton segments, while the walls host a large banquet!

This is the tomb Dei Baccanti. It appears to have an orgiastic party going on! The couple on the back wall (a clear depiction of a man and a severely faded image of a woman) were identified as the man who commissioned the tomb and his wife.

This one is tomb Bartoccini. This tomb is unique in that there are additional rooms to the left and the right. In addition to the checkerboard pattern, this room features a banquet. The other two rooms, which we can’t see, are reported to feature seahorses in one, and panthers and lions in the other.

This final offering is tomb Bettini. It features lions in outline at the top and a banquet celebration around the walls. What is unique about this tomb is the additional lower chamber outlined by waves that is the location for the corpse.

All through the morning Micky wanted to finish the tombs close to the entrance as quickly as possible to avoid the “fruit flies.” He asked, “Do you know fruit flies? Do you know what a fruit fly is?” Then he brushed off all of our answers and said, “Fruit flies are students!”

Well, we were wrapping up our visit just as the “fruit flies” arrived!

We boarded a bus and headed into the town of Tarquinia to visit the museum there. This is Tarquinia’s National Museum of Archeology! OK, looks are deceiving.

This is what the courtyard looks like! And remember what I said earlier about fruit flies? They’re all downstairs, so we go upstairs!

The first display we see is a depiction of the contents of a typical Etruscan tomb. The most important piece in the tomb is the rock with the names of the buried chiseled into it!

This is the tomb of a wealthy person because a chariot was included. All that survived is part of the metal from the chariot – its wheels and other fittings.

This is the coffin of a small Etruscan child. There is gold jewelry and wrist cuffs that are about 1 inch in diameter!

Micky introduces us to the concept that sarcophagi were done in 4 pieces not as a convenience for viewing the body, but as necessary because pottery ovens could not fire pieces larger than this!

The final piece that is the pride of the museum is the pair of Etruscan winged horses. These are beautiful reconstructions of the pieces after the horses were damaged when the Temple of Ara della Regina was destroyed! They are not identifed as “pegasus” because these predated the Greek concept of Pegasus by a few centuries.

The wires provide the pediment outline to show where the horses resided on the Temple of Ara della Regina. They were at the end, pulling a chariot! I am continually amazed at how the archeologists figure these things out!

We are given some free time to explore Tarquinia, so I go on a walk! My first find is a little alcove. The flowers on the benches caught my eye long before the twisting torso statue did!

I found a main square, the Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, by following a large clock belltower! This ends up being a municipal building rather than a church. Somewhat disappointing, but the fountain bearing a cross is somewhat elegant, and the church was on the opposite side of the plaza!

The church , however, is very plain, almost excessively so! This is the Church of Saint Mary of Sorrows (Chiesa di Santa Maria Addolorata).

The interior is elegantly curved and decorated! It is small and beautifully intimate.

Further into the Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, in front of a restaurant, the pavers takes on an interesting design! Multiple intertwining petals are punctuated by eyes, and the center has an eye-shaped opening featuring a hand with an eye in the palm! Almost eerie in a Steven King way!

The next church I found is the Church of Saint John of Jerusalem (Chiesa San Giovanni Gerosolimitano). Again, a very plain facade except for the beautiful rosette window!

But a stately, clean, well appointed interior! The rock lines of the construction form the decor of the upper section of the church.

As our bus leaves Tarquinia I capture this shot through the bus’ window. It is a lovely town resting on a hillside.

Back at the pier I am happy to report the Batman is on the starboard and the Wonder Woman I saw this morning is on the port side of the same ferry ship! I wonder – do they really have the appropriate licenses to use these images?

Back at the terminal building I have a strong deja vu moment! This long tent structure is where Joy and I had to wait with all of our luggage when we got off the ship from our first transAtlantic cruise, Ft Lauderdale to Rome, in May 2011! We had to wait for the personal driver we hired to take us to our hotel. Ah, memories! I’m actually a little surprised this tent is still here 11 years later!

OK, one last chance to get my gratuitous photo of Insignia in this post!

Before we leave we hear horns outside. We go out to find there is a boat parade going on. Leslie, the cruise director makes an announcement explaining the boat parade is in honor of today being the anniversary of Italy’s liberation from communism, when Mussolini was defeated! Go Italy! Happy Independence Day!