The rock necropolis of Norchia, among the cube tombs hidden in the Tuscia

There are places in Italy that seem to exist only for those willing to truly seek them out. The rock necropolis of Norchia, on the border between the municipalities of Vetralla and Viterbo, is one of them. It lies near the locality of Cinelli, where the streams of the Pile, the Acqualta and the Biedano meet, carving deep ravines into the tufa. Here once stood an ancient Etruscan city that knew its greatest splendour between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, along the ancient route of the Via Clodia.

What remains today is a suspended landscape, where nature has reclaimed almost everything. You walk among ferns, oaks and rock walls covered in moss, and suddenly, on the flanks of the ravines, the famous cube tombs appear. They are great squared blocks hewn directly from the tufa wall, carved and shaped like true works of architecture, with blind façades and false doors that, for the Etruscans, marked the passage to the afterlife.

Climbing up and down along the trails, the eye continually meets new burial chambers, staircases cut into the rock and spaces where funerary rites were once performed. The site also preserves traces of a later medieval settlement, perched on the high ground, a sign that this place was lived in and abandoned more than once over the centuries.

The most astonishing thing about Norchia is precisely the silence. While not far off the better-known necropolises draw crowds, here you may walk for hours without meeting anyone. There are no crowded ticket offices and no queues: just a car park, a few signs and a path that descends into the greenery.

This is why Norchia asks for respect. You need sturdy shoes, care on the slippery stretches, and the mindfulness not to touch or climb on the tombs. To visit it in spring or autumn, with soft light and cool weather, is to experience the most authentic Etruria, far from mass tourism.

Getting there

The rock necropolis of Norchia lies in the municipality of Vetralla, in the Viterbo Tuscia, in an isolated area reachable by car. From Vetralla you follow the Aurelia bis in the direction of Tarquinia and, at the locality of Cinelli, turn onto a road that becomes unpaved as far as an unguarded car park; from there you continue on foot along the path that descends into the ravine. Vetralla is connected to the SS1 Aurelia and the SS2 Cassia, and the reference airports are those of Rome.

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