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The Etruscan-Roman Necropolis of Sutri: 64 Tombs Carved from Tufa Along the Via Cassia
At the foot of the town of Sutri (VT), in the Ancient City’s Regional Natural Park, the rock-cut necropolis extends for 180 metres along an escarpment of red tufa that once skirted the ancient Via Cassia. Sixty-four tombs are carved directly into the rock face, on multiple levels. This is one of the most significant examples of funerary architecture of the Roman period in the Etruscan-Faliscan territory.
A City of the Dead Facing the Road
The Romans built their necropolises just outside the inhabited area, so that those entering the city would pass before the tombs of the dead. Here this is literally the case: many chambers open onto the tufa wall right on the edge of the via Cassia. The red tufa, containing black slag, is compact yet workable — ideal for carving sepulchral chambers within it.
Single Chamber, Double Chamber, Arcosolia
All the tomb typologies are here: single-chamber, double-chamber, others preceded by an arched entrance, rectangular niches for cinerary urns, arcosolia. The complex was used between the 1st century BC and the 3rd–4th century AD, for both inhumation and cremation.
From Stables to Archaeological Site
As early as the early Middle Ages the tombs were looted. Then, for centuries, many were turned into stables and storage spaces for farming tools — so much so that the visitable route begins from tomb number 27: the earlier ones are no longer recognisable. It is a strange story: from burial place to storerooms, and today back to an open-air museum.
