La necropoli di Cerveteri. Comprensione dei paesaggi sepolcrali e nuova fruizione

The necropolis of Cerveteri, the ancient Caere, was listed in the “UNESCO World Heritage” in 2004. The ancient Caere was located on a large plain, bounded by ravines, surrounded by its necropolises and facing the sea. The link with the Mediterranean Sea was the main reason why this city was developed. Its three harbours Alsium, Pyrgi and Punicum were the location for the commercial trading with the eastern population, who brought their culture to Italy. The historic and cartographic analysis proves how the position of the big burial mounds is strictly related with the main commercial routes. Such mounds were built by the richest families in order to show their power, and were supposed to be seen from long distances. Caere had three necropolises, but only a small part of one of them, the Banditaccia necropolis, is nowadays available for visits. Such necropolis is made by several layers of different burial architectural typologies, mainly along the “Via degli Inferi”. This was the main path of the necropolis and the connection to the coast and the inland. The aim of this work is to isolate the several layers that gathered one after another during the centuries. It is possible to define five burial landscapes: the Villanovan, the Orientalizing, the Hellenistic, the Etruscan and the Decline landscape. A small welcome center has been designed on the other side of the necropolis’ plain as a starting point for the proposed new routes.