Norchia is an ancient Etruscan city with an adjacent

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

, near Vetralla in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The site is along the Via Clodia, and is not far from the more well known Etruscan town of

Tarquinia Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscans, Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropolis, necropoleis, or cemeteries. Tarquinia was designated as a ...

History

The ancient name of the site is uncertain; some sources identify it with the ancient Etruscan town known as ''Orclae'', whose name is reported in medieval sources. The locale was already inhabited in the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, and the city and its adjoining necropolis grew with the arrival of the Etruscans. The urban settlement reached its high point between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC The tombs are generally constructed from large blocks of

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

carved directly into the cliff, and are entered from stairs heading down into the rock. Their cliffside construction, rather than being built on the ground, makes the tombs unusual for the Etruscans. Originally bodies were placed within stone

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ� ...

that may still be found in many of the tombs. The site was later inhabited in medieval times, and remnants of a castle and church still remain. It was abandoned as a settlement in the 14th century.

Images

File:Norchia.jpg File:Norchia, strada tagliata2.jpg File:Frammento di frontone da norchia, IV-III sec. ac..JPG File:Tombe doriche di Norchia 01.jpg

References

* Mauro Cristofani, ''Dizionario Illustrato della Civiltà Etrusca'', Giunti, Firenze 1999, , pp. 191–192.
VR panorama of an Etruscan tomb in Norchia at Tuscia 360
Etruscan cities Province of Viterbo Former populated places in Italy Archaeological sites in Lazio {{lazio-geo-stub