Etruscan Necropolis in Casale Marittimo

The Etruscan Necropolis at Casale Marittimo includes particularly interesting finds, expecially from the archaeological area of Casa Nocera. It is home to highly decorated tombs of some of the rich and powerful members of the community from the seventh and sixth centuries BCE.

One of the most famous of these tombs was found by accident at Poggiarelle in 1896. Dating back to the fifth century BCE, this particular tomb is round, with a diameter of 3.3 m and covered in earth. Inside, the tomb is decorated and a ‘dromos’, a corridor, leads to the ‘tholos’, a kind of false dome.

In 1937, the remains of two ancient Roman villas were found near La Pieve e Il Poggio. These bear witness to the passage from the Etruscan to the Roman civilization. Local legend has it that there were once two castles in the area, Casale Vecchio and Casale Nuovo, although no archaeological evidence of either has ever been uncovered.