The 20-hectare tuff rock hill near the grotte di Castro in the Viterbo area is surrounded by a complex system of necropoleis dating to the first half of the 7th century B.C.E. and to the 3rd century C.E., located in Vigna la Piazza, Le Sane, Torano, Vallemuglie, Campolungo, Maccarino, Centocamere, Caviciana, Cepposecco, Pianezze, Montearsoand Pian dell’Aia.
The Etruscan necropolis of Pianezze, in particular, extends along a spur of tuff rock over the river Largo, where numerous hypogea have been discovered. In the early 7th century B.C.E., the Etruscans began digging out sarcophagus tombs in this area which were lined and covered with tuff slabs and used for a single cadaver only. Towards the end of the century, they added more elaborate tombs, with chambers and on a larger scale for the use of one or more family units, with long entrance corridors and a range of underground rooms, some embellished with architectural decoration, replicating the features of real houses. There are 24 monumental tombs in Pianezze whose layout features a long external corridor - a dromos – that leads to an atrium providing access to the inner rooms where the bodies were deposited. One of the most important in the complex is the Red Tomb, which has sculpted and painted architectural elements inside and a Tuscan-order column and shelf, both varnished red, in a copy of a real-life residence, on the back wall.
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