Destination: Tarquinia
Topic: Etruscan's
I was highly intrigued by Etruscan necropolis's when I read about them in my Art History book. Although, the necropolis we visited was not the one in the book I was still thrilled to have the opportunity to visit one. The graveyard the group visited was in Tarquinia. Tarquinia was a small and quaint village. I felt highly inspired as an artist while I was there. The village consists of narrow cobblestone streets, bustling street vendors, and close quarter residences. The destinations for that day were the necropolis and Etruscan museum. The picture below was taken on our way to the necropolis, and has Richard in the left corner.
Statue outside the Etruscan museum. I've always had a liking for ballerina's in terms of their posture and elegance. My favorite part of the body is the torso, so when it is twisted or arched like in the statue below it catches my eye. So, this was a lovely statue to look at.
These are just taken from our walk to the Necropolis.
Sad/cute little puppy that was tied to one of the street vendor booths. The dogs in Italy aren't treated as well as dogs in America. A lot of dogs wander the streets depending on the location. Naples had a lot of stray dogs.
Street vendors. They like to set up right outside of train/bus stations...where they know tourists will be eager to buy. We were taught how to ignore and not get ripped off by certain ones. Vendors with purses set up on garbage bags on the ground are a no-no, because a lot of them are illegal and most likely stole their merchandise. When we were in Florence we witnessed one of them get their merchandise taken by the police. I didn't see him get chased away I only saw the police with their motorcycles bagging the purses. He did come back though running like a mad-man, snagged a couple then kept running. That was quite a site and gutsy move on his part.
Well, fancy that. Ciao Montana! <3 I guess it's right around the corner.
I took this picture for my sister Anabelle. It's a pet shop. Italian pet shop. Giggity.
Destination Necropolis reached, but first a history lesson. A Necropolis is a graveyard, the word necropolis means "City of the Dead." In the case of the Etruscan's they definitely tried to give their graveyards a home-like appearance and atmosphere. The Etruscan's believed that when a person died part of their soul stayed with the body, because of this belief it resulted in very intricate and house resembled tombs. They wanted the dead to be "cozy" and have a comfortable and honorable dwelling, so the graves resemble little huts or houses and sometimes contained stone furniture such as beds and chairs. The Etruscan's also painted very elaborate murals inside the tombs in honor of the person buried in the grave.
Exterior of one of the graves.
Stairway down into one of the tombs...with the lovely Chelsea Scott <3
My good friend Jazz bravely walking ahead of me down into the depths. It was a little scary walking down into the tombs at first because the lights wouldn't be on and we would have to push the button to make them come on at the bottom of the stairs.
This tomb has beds in it and a few pottery pieces over to the left.
Blurry picture but here's Bobbi looking in one of the tombs.
My curiosity and intrigue made me want to go down this little stairway so bad...to bad it was behind glass.
Grave with murals painted on all sides. I was still a little iffy at this point so I would snap a pic then scurry up the stairs.
Vessels. My guess is that the Etruscan's put ashes in them.
This pathway was a tunnel that had it's top taken off that led to another tomb. Unfortunately, it was blocked off.
This picture is my favorite one. This grave was closed off but I stuck my camera inside the bars and snapped this picture. I love how it shows how old these graves really are, especially since the stairs aren't redone or lights put in...it's just history untouched.
We had lunch after walking around the Necropolis...not many can say they had lunch on a Etruscan graveyard. After the graveyard Cody, Chelsea, and I went on a little adventure around Tarquinia. These are some of the pictures I took during our little escapade around town. As I said before I was greatly inspired by the village , especially the residential area. In my artwork I imagine the houses of my underground, Steampunk world would look like the houses in Tarquinia.
Cool doors <3
Here we are....kinda. Cody to the left, Chelsea in the middle and my hand on the right. Adventurer's out exploring the town.
...and finding some pretty cool things.
The dog from Lady and the Tramp.
I love all the different kinds of stone used to construct these buildings, they look even more medieval with how old and aged they are.
Interesting supports on a construction site.
Cool stone work...looks like a keyhole to the right.
The last thing we did was visit the Etruscan museum. I didn't get to take very many pics but I will be posting them possibly tomorrow....as it is now 4:30 and I have been working on this blog between classes today. So, I see you all later! Enjoy this last picture of Cody and my friend Adrien!
Ciao!
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