Welcome back and thank you for tuning in to this week’s getaway suggestion! This week’s Valid Vacation Recommendation is the Tomb of the Triclinium!
A grave isn’t usually something people think about visiting. But the Tomb of the Triclinium? If it’s good enough to be a UNESCO heritage site, I think it’s good enough to be on your bucket list! Sitting in Tarquinia, the Tomb of the Triclinium is one of the 6,000 graves and 200 painted tombs in the Monterozzi necropolis near the west coast of Italy. Dating to about the 470s BCE, the tomb’s star features are the Etruscan frescoes draping its walls. These magnificent images show the immensely festive burial traditions of the Etruscans, who lived in Italy from 670 BCE to 200 BCE. But don’t just take our word for how great this place is, here are some of our loyal readers’ thoughts:
@TheWorldsBestTourist
I went to Italy to visit family over the summer and made a stop by the Monterozzi necropolis for some good old fashioned tourism and I LOVED IT!!! The frescoes in the Tomb of the Triclinium are my favorite in the area by far! By the way, did you know that a triclinium is actually a dining room from the ancient Greco-Roman Mediterranean? That’s why they call it the Tomb of the Triclinium, because it’s a dinner party! I’m a sucker for a good dinner party and an Etruscan funeral banquet is even better than that! My favorite part was seeing the musicians and dancers on the side walls. This tomb was a real eye-opener to how Etruscans saw death. There wasn’t really any mourning like we see today, just a joyous and lively dinner party that guaranteed happiness to the deceased in the afterlife! I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a great afterlife to me! Come check the Tomb of the Triclinium out for yourself sometime!
@Combine the Cultures
I’ll be honest, I don’t like visiting tombs. It feels like I’m not supposed to be there, but I am an avid fan of connecting cultures and these tombs made me excited. First, you can kind of tell that the dinner scene is similar to 5th century BCE Attic pottery imported from Greece by the Etruscans. Second, the similarities between this tomb and Egyptian burials are uncanny. Like Egyptian tombs, the tombs in the Monterozzi necropolis should also have valuable items belonging to the dead (that is if it weren’t for grave robbers. Curse you, grave robbers!). And although they’re not exactly the same, you can’t convince me that the frescos in the Tomb of the Triclinium aren’t similar to the scene of “Fowling in the Marshes” in Nebamun’s Tomb-Chapel (which I read more about Lindsay Hess’s post). Nebamun hunts birds in the marshes of the Nile, and a group of people enjoy a festive dinner. Don’t see the similarities? WRONG! They’re similar in meaning; neither the Egyptians nor the Etruscans mourned their dead the way we do, they show lively scenes of life, games, and celebrations. Both paintings have both deteriorated since being discovered. Check out the Tomb of the Triclinium and see the similarities for yourself.
Those reviews really highlight the amazing aspects of this site, but we understand that maybe this site isn’t for everyone. Here’s a not-so-great review of the site you might also want to consider:
@InterestingThingsOnly
The only thing I have to say about this site is that everything was completely underwhelming. I usually love this website, they give great tourist destinations, but this time I was disappointed. First of all, the visit was draining. You would think with so many tombs in the area people would be spread out, but the Tomb of the Triclinium is famous, so the area was crowded, which made it even hotter there. Second, the frescoes were the only things to see. Ancient tombs usually have at least some objects in them, but I found myself standing in an empty room. Don’t get me wrong, the paintings are beautiful, there are some beautiful images in the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, the Tomb of the Lionesses, the Tomb of the Funeral Coach, and so on, but where’s everything else?! All the good stuff is gone! I wanted to see some cinerary urns, mirrors, vases, pottery, silver and gold jewelry, all THAT good stuff. Unfortunately, looters hopped on the “Etruscomania” train in the 18th and 19th centuries and took everything but the frescoes. It’s sad to see that The Metropolitan Museum of Art has more Etruscan objects than Etruscan tombs themselves.
Thank you for tuning in and we hope you go visit the Tomb of the Triclinium someday!
- Marina Rizk is a part of the class of 2026 and is looking to major in Chemistry. Marina has developed an interest in how different cultures view death and the afterlife and is interested in learning more about how different groups throughout history have handled funerals and burials.
