Etruscan civilization is still shrouded in mystery. The Romans may have achieved many glorious deeds and vanquished all their neighbors, but they never quite eradicated the memory of the Etruscans, and a lingering fascination for this lost people remains.
Veio, the Etruscan city-state closest to Rome, fell in the fourth century BC after a siege lasting a full 10 years. It was followed, one by one, by Cerveteri, Sutri, and Nepi, but Tarquinia, the city that captures the essence of the ancient land of Etruria, kept up the struggle throughout the entire fourth century BC, until finally forced into submission in 281 BC. The southernmost section of the Maremma, a mere sliver of the vast territory once controlled by the Etruscans, is the only part of the ancient Etruscan dominion to encroach into the present-day region of Lazio (or Latium). Though small, this area contains several major necropolis sites and is therefore the source of much of what we know about the Etruscan civilization. The Etruscans looked upon the tomb as an eternal home, and so they turned the burial chambers, from which we have derived much of our knowledge of them, into a replica of their houses and filled them with all the accoutrements of domestic life: jewels, pottery, bronze, and furnishings.
A 150-hectare archaeological site (open to visitors) on the limestone plateau of Civita in Tarquinia contains one of the most important of all Etruscan monuments: the Temple of the Queen's Altar. This is the largest building of its type in all Etruria and the original site of the famous ceramic winged horses from the third century BC, now kept in the museum of the town. The museum also displays other artifacts taken from the tombs unearthed on the slopes of Monterozzi. Norcia boasts the largest and most impressive cavern-necropolis of Etruria. The necropolis of Tuscania yielded up many artifacts and remains of historical importance. Remains of the Etruscan civilization have also turned up in Ischia di Castro, Blera, Vetralla and Bolsena.
