Vanth, the goddess of the Etruscan Underworld
Another member of the Etruscan League or Dodecapolis, the alliance formed among 12 Etruscan settlements between 600 BC and 500 BC, was Caisra, at the site of the the modern town of Cerveteri. During my visit to the archaeological museum in Tarquinia I saw pictures of its well preserved Necropolis. Cerveteri is only a short distance from Rome. From the station Ladispoli-Cerveteri on the line from Rome to Civitavecchia it should be a bus ride of less than 20 min to the town. However, after my experiences with the packed trains on this line I decide to take one of the hourly busses from the surburban Roman metro- and bus-hub in Cornelia.
One of the tumuli at the necropole of Cerveteri
By bus the journey from my apartment in Rome to the Etruscan necropolis of Cerveteri takes more than two hours. In addition to the long bus ride, there's a half-hour walk, as the bus terminates in the Piazza of Cerveteri. From there, it's another 2 km on foot to the necropolis.
Municipal bus in Rome
Exceptionally, I'm up relatively early today and am therefore already at a bus stop at 9:30 to catch a Roman city bus to the Cornelia metro terminus in western Rome. From there bus number 944 should get me to Cerveteri, 50 km away, in one hour and ten minutes.
In times of internet, apps and AI the driver is still the most reliable source of information
How I have managed to organize such a trip in Pre-Google times is something I've forgotten. But even Google's knowledge has its limits. For example, it ends when you have arrived at Cornelia and try to find where you can buy the tickets. The bus to Cerveteri is operated by a company different from those in Rome. After debarking the city bus at a bus stop near Cornelia's – not all buses stop at the enormous bus station, but some also stop in the side streets – I find what I need in one of the phone shops that are at every corner here and seem to be firmly rooted in the culture of the Indian subcontinent.
Buses in the traffic jam close to the Roman tetro Marcello
These shops also earn money from other small services that the highly profit-driven western economic system no longer has room for, such as photocopying passports. The guy ahead in the queue explains expressively what has to be done. I didn't realize that a passport has so many important pages that need to be copied. The shop owner is happy to accept cash for this service.
Content traveler on the city bus
As I leave the shop with two tickets, each costing €2.80, I see a blue bus across the way at the bus stop, its destination displayed as Cerveteri. It's just pulling away.
Who wants to drive a car when you get a ride with a view?
The city buses are red, but the bus to Cerveteri is blue. Other blue buses are parked at the back of the bus station. However, I can't find any indication of a destination or timetable on the platforms. The display cases on each platform only contain a poster recommending the use of an app. But there's no Wi-Fi for it, either in the bus station or on the buses. Institutions that force people to use an app should be legally required to provide users with free internet access. I ask a few people standing around, and after some misunderstandings due to my incorrect, non-Italian pronunciation, it turns out that there's a discreet blue sign attached to a pole at the bus platform high above the head of the tallest person imaginable. It does indeed show Cerveteri as the destination of the busses departing from here. So I should be in the right place. But there's no bus.
Don't disturb my mistress when she watches dog videos....
We all agree that the next bus should arrive at 10:40, in about 15 minutes. This estimate is based solely on the wisdom of Google Maps, as none of the other passengers who are slowly arriving now, not even the younger ones, have the app. And there are no timetables. Nor is there any clock, any seat, a trash can, shadow or a water tap anywhere. A few of the waiting passengers have sat down a little further along the curb. The trash is blown to another corner by the wind.
The bus is also the last chance to improve the looks
Meanwhile a blue bus with the words "Fumicino" on it has arrived at the adjacent platform. The bus driver is frustrated that his bus company, "CoTran,"doesn't provide sufficient information. So the locals, who stubbornly refuse to download the app, have crowded around his window, demanding confirmation that a bus to Cerveteri will indeed arrive sometime soon. The man doesn't know anything. He drives his bus to Fumicino. The fact that this is also indicated on the sign at his platform is reassuring.
The huge, shadeless bus terminal at Cornelia
And another blue bus arrives at the adjacent platform, its destination display showing “Cerveteri – Ladispoli – Rome.” Immediately, the crowd from our platform surrounds the driver. He's clueless. His shift is over. He switches off the engine.
Waiting area for bus travelers in Cornelia...
But, sure enough, another bus driven by an attractive woman arrives, this one displaying “Rome – Cerveteri.” Before anyone can board, tshe shouts something at considerable volume from the open door to the bus at the other platform, which, with my limited Italian, I interpret as a request for him to drive the 10:40 route. The other driver refuses.
The information screen of the Cotran bus to Cerveteri
Now she asks each of us where we want to go. An older man with a small briefcase and myself are the only ones who answer that we want to go to Cerveteri and we are allowed to board. Two others can also get in, but not the rest, who apparently all want to go to Ladispoli. They stand bewildered on the platform while the energetic driver closes the doors and pulls away. The screen in the bus, serving to provide information for the passengers, displays a pattern of vertical lines.
Regular bus stop on the line to Cerveteri
While talking loudly on her phone and gesturing animatedly, our energetic driver even leaves the motorcyclists, who repeatedly try to squeeze between the bus and the slower cars in the right lane, behind on the four-lane road.
Bus stop in Suburbia
Eventually, the other two passengers get off. I'm glad that, besides me, the older man also wants to go to Cerveteri and is left on the bus with me. At least then I'm sure I'm right. The driver double-checks, just to be sure. Yes, two passengers to Cerveteri.
One of the rare stops that provide sone shade and a seat
Soon the bus, still firmly steered by the woman with one hand while the other constantly presses her phone to her ear, turns off the main road and follows small country lanes that probably haven't changed their route since Roman times. I wonder if a bus has ever actually driven this way. Every time a car approaches, the driver slams on the brakes and swerves to the right with her free hand. As she does so, she utters words that I can only interpret as Italian curses.
Cruising one-handed down the countyside
In Greek mythology, Charon was the boatman whose task was to ferry the new arrivals to Hades across the river Styx forming the border between the world of the living and the underworld. In Etruscan mythology Charun had this role. He was often depicted with an ugly face, animal ears, wings, and blue or dark skin. Carrying a large sledgehamme he didn't transport the dead across a river in a boat, but rather accompanied the souls directly to the underworld or guarded the entrance to the grave. Frequently Charun is paired with the goddess Vanth, which usually wears high boots, a short tunic with straps over her chest and huge feathered wings on her back. Vanth has no analogue in the Greek mythology. Frequently Vanth carries a burning torch to light the dark path to the underworld, keys to unlock the gates of the afterlife, or a scroll listing the deeds of the deceased. Today the keys are in the lock of the bus, the phone has taken over the role of the scroll, and if I am not mistaken, our driver has wings tattooed on her upper body. What is happening here?
Countryside in Latium
I follow the towns on the map that Google so kindly provides. Testa di Lepre di Sotto, Tagliata. The road is getting worse and worse, the bus rattles as if it's about to fall apart. We overtake a few suicidal cyclists on their way to meet Vanth.
Unexpected sightseeing from the bus to Cerveteri
The old man with the briefcase has now sat down in the seat directly behind the driver, and I've also moved forward, into the row behind him, mainly out of fear that I might be left behind on the bus.
Access lane to a farm house near Ponton del Elce
Ponton del Elce. Suddenly, the old man in front of me starts shouting loudly at the driver. I hadn't expected such a powerful voice in him. Apparently, he's accusing her of constantly talking on her phone while driving. The woman shouts back just as loudly that she has to negotiate with headquarters about where she's actually supposed to be going. The Ruta del Sole, she says, has apparently turned more into a Ruta del Forno. Endless traffic chaos forces her to detour. Huffily, the old man with the briefcase falls silent and retreats to the back of the bus.
Searching for passengers in the seaside town of Ladispoli
Outside, lonely donkeys graze, olive groves and meadows of cornflowers alternate with parking lots and car washes. A farmer is mowing the waist-high grass with an ancient tractor. A smell of hey fills the interior the empty bus.
The center of Ladispoli
The uneven road is making my notes increasingly illegible. At the junction beyond Ponton del Elce, the bus could have easily reached Cerveteri after a short drive via Le Capanne to drop off its two exhausted passengers. Unfortunately, that's not the case, as Vanth turns south at the junction and heads towards the coast. When we reach the main road near Palidoro, we get stuck in traffic. "Tutto bloqueado" or something similar, she mutters to no one in particular. Even gods on their way to the underworld have their predicaments. She has even given up on using her phone. After being solid stuck for a while in a traffic jam around a roundabout, we head towards the coastal town of Passo Oscuro, which certainly lives up to its name. I gaze longingly from the bridge at the empty iron ribbon of the railway line towards Rome. No one in Passo Oscuro seems interested in the passing errant bus. And at the Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù Palidoro, where we just sped past, no one wants anything from us either. With her two passengers, our goddess follows the same route back, over the aforementioned railway bridge, to rejoin the traffic jam at the roundabout which we left more than 20 minutes ago.
Yearning for the next train
From Palidoro, we dutifully remain stuck in traffic on the main road. My only fellow passenger has apparently resigned himself to his fate. His only sign of life comes from the regular ringing of his phone.
Ruspoli Castle in the center of Cerveteri
The traffic jam ends at the Ladispoli-Cerveteri motorway exit. We're not heading to Ladispoli. That explains why the others were turned away at the initial bus stop in Cornelia. Like most historic Italian towns the center of Cerveteri is on a hill. Before we begin climbing the hill to the old town, my only fellow passenger gets off the bus, making the sign of the cross. For a moment, I fear that my journey might also end here… the driver asks twice if I really want to go all the way to the piazza in Cerveteri. Then she covers the short stretch to the piazza at a brisk pace. For once, Vanth doesn’t go straight into the underworld but disposes me at the bus stop at the city gate of Cerveteri.
The city walls of Cerveteri
As I get off I thank the driver that she did not bring me to the underworld. With only two passengers they could have canceled the ride and leave us grounded in Rome. I don't think she understands my question about whether this type of traffic jam is a daily occurrence. In any case, she seems happy that someone is thanking her. And because of her I've enjoyed a free tour through the foothills of Lazio.
Torre dell Orologio, Cerveteri
Like in Tarquinia, the Necropoli della Banditaccia was on a different hill from the Etruscan town center of Caisra. In 600 BC the Etruscan town with a population of around 25,000 – 40,000 musrt have occupied an area more than 15 times larger than today's town. The small medieval core of Cerveteri still is partially surrounded by a wall. A castle, a palazzo, here related to the Orsini, and the usual number of churches form the center of a cluster of narrow alleys. An old fashioned town center typical for so many in Italy.
Street in Cerveteri
From the bus station I have taken the most attractive path through the old town in the hope that a sign will lead me towards the necropolis somewhere on the following hill. It is hot. There is nobody in the streets. Curtains fly from open windows. The drizzle from laundry still drying above the walkway and occasional sounds from a radio belie my suspicion that all inhabitants of this town might have been taken away by Vanth.
Walking path to the necropole
While taking a rest in the shade I meet a French guy. Like myself, he is searching. He has visited the Necropolis and now wants to find the museum in the Orsini palace. He assures me that there is no way from the old town to the Necropolis. I will have to follow the main road at the base of the city wall. But we warns me to be careful. The road is narrow and bendy, there is no sidewalk, the cars drive fast, scrubs block the view and don’t allow an escape from the oncoming traffic.
Car access lane to the necropole
I get on my way, and, everything he said turns out to be right. Italy is not a country for pedestrians. The Italians drive. There is no walking path between the town and the excavation site and there are even signs that pedestrians are not permitted on the road. At a particularly inscrutable corner with a sharp bend of the road a couple of guys in a parked car look worried and advice me to change to the other side of the street. Fortunately there isn’t a lot of traffic.
The pedestrian access path is much more scenic
But eventually I reach a parking lot and an alley just wide enough for one car. Running parallel is a nice quiet walking path along the gaping holes of burying chambers ransacked a long time ago and now overgrown with weeds. It brings me to the entrance of the recinto, a fenced off area giving access to the open tombs. The Necropoli della Banditaccia covers an area of 400 hectares. Only around 10 hectares can be visited. This is the largest ancient necropolis in the Mediterranean. It contains thousands of tombs organized in a city-like plan, with neighborhoods, streets and small squares.
Tombs outside the recinto along the access lane
The tombs inside the recinto are from the VII. to V. century BC. Cut out of tufa, most of the tombs echo Greek architecture. There are either the characteristic tumuli or the so-called "dice" from the 6th century BC, simple square tombs built in long rows along roads. The visitable area contains two such roads, the Via dei Monti Ceriti and the Via dei Monti della Tolfa.
Three of the enormous tumuli of the necropole of Cerveteri
In contrast to the necropolis at Tarquinia the structures above the ground are preserved in Cerveteri. However, the tombs lack the interior decoration seen there. Most chambers are completely empty. What had not disappeared in the gray past was removed after excavations and placed in musea around the world.
Entrance to one of the grave chambers
The names of the tombs represent architectural features or items found there rather than families. Since the decorations are lost and the interior is empty little is known about the people who rested there. I pass Tomba dei Due Ingressi, Tomba della Casetta, Tomba dei Capitelli, Tomba del Pilastro, Tomba dei Letti Funebri, Tomba dei Vasi Greci, Tombas della Cornice or the Tomba dei Rilievi. Some of the tumuli have several funeral apartments of one or more rooms.
Inside the realm of Vanth
The deeper I wander into the realm of the dead the easier it is to get lost. There are numerous little pathways between the tumuli, crocked stairways to elevated plateaus which give access to crevice like grave chambers. There are just a few signs. Maintenance is low, the flowering grass grows high, trees have taken root in the tumuli. This is like a European version of Angkor Wat, smaller in size with trees less strangulating. There are very few visitors.
Typical berths for the deceased
Around the Necropolis of Banditaccia a 14 km hiking trail not only gives an impression of the Bufolareccia archaeological area but also nice country side and some water-falls.. On my way back into town I take a different path to the dangerous road. It leads along other excavation sites with more enormous tumuli, all closed or fenced off. In the background the walls and roofs of the medieval town. When I finally reach the main square, hot, sweaty and thirsty, I first buy an ice-cream.
The question now is, how will I ever get out of here?
It is assumed that the interior of the graves ressembles the layout of Etruscan houses
There are two buses waiting when I arrive back at the piazza in Cerveteri. Neither is blue. One is number 23, the other number 25. From their displays showing the destination, I can identify a place with the abbreviation FS, so these buses must be stopping at a train station along the way. But I already have a ticket for the blue Cotran bus, and the highway closure should be over by now.
The rich interior of the tombs has disappeared long ago
The bus stop at the piazza in Cerveteri is baking in the sun. A homeless man has claimed the only shady bench with his belongings. His visible skin is covered with numerous bandages. Given his many ailments, I don't want to compete for his shady, and therefore slightly cooler, seat.
The ghosts of 2500 years are still there
The information kiosk on the Piazza is only open in the morning. Various bus timetables are posted there, including those for numbers 21, 22, 23, and 25, as well as others that aren't recognized by Google. Although the timetables list departure times, it's unclear where these buses actually go to. A multitude of sheets of paper pinned to the walls promise a long list of times for numerous buses, but unfortunately, they don't specify any destinations.
The maze of alleys, stairs and passages in the necropole
Cotrans also has a timetable posted there. Buses to Roma Cornelia are supposed to depart at 4:30 PM, 5:15 PM, 5:30 PM, and 6:30 PM. I must have missed the 4:30 PM bus.
Simple square tombs built in long rows along roads
After buses 23 and 25, which would presumably have taken me to a train station, departed, a blue bus actually comes speeding up the hill. "Civitavecchia" is displayed on the destination sign. This bus route, too, has been successfully hidden from the inquisitive Google Maps. Not is there any timetabel sheet displaying Civitavecchia as a destination but perhaps these are the departure times posted at the information kiosk without a destination. Without much hope, I ask the driver if he happens to be going to Rome. Of course not.
Comparison of the square tombs and the tumuli
Shortly after its departure, another blue bus crawled up the hill. It is almost 5:15 p.m., so this should be the bus to Rome. I stow my camera in my backpack. When I looked up again, the blue bus drives past me without stopping and has already accelerated back down towards the valley. Should I have signaled to him? I console myself with the thought that another bus to Rome is supposed to arrive at 5:30 PM.
The enormous Tomba degli scudi e delle sedie outside the recinto
And indeed, soon another blue bus comes up the hill. Again the display shows that it's going to Civitavecchia. I decide not to ask for Rome, and don’t take it even though Civitavecchia does have a train station. Right after that, another blue bus arrives, this one with the sign for Roma - Ladispoli - Cerveteri. A few other people besides me have gathered, all running towards the bus door.
The necropole also is a natural gem
In 353 BC Caisra, which was allied with Tarquinia, lost a war with Rome. Some of its territory, including the coastal area and ports important for the trade that had made the towns prosperous, were lost. After 300 BC Caisra came under Roman rule. By 295 BC virtually all Etruria was in Roman hands. The old site of Caisra was reduced to a minor town with much importance in the outskirts of Rome.
The access to the abyss
Again, we stand at the bus door in vain. The driver lets everyone off and then changes her sign to "senza servizio" (no service). Meanwhile it's now 5:30 PM and everyone is staring helplessly in the direction from where the buses come. And sure enough, right on cue, another blue bus arrives with the inscription "Roma - Ladispoli - Cerveteri". I rush to the entrance, practically throwing myself in its path. Another group gets off. But the driver makes it clear that his shift is over. He doesn't know when the next bus to Rome will leave. He presses a button and the display changes to "Deposito”.
Masonry of the tumuli
Next turn is bus number 25 again. I don't want to take any more risks. If it goes to any train station, even if it's the one in Scottisham, I'll get on. But the driver says no. No stops at any station on the way. But he is helpful enough to direct me to bus number 23. Maybe the drivers of the numbered buses aren't so stressed?
The timetable at the bus stop outside the necropole of Banditaccia
I stand speechless with a handful of others at the bus stop. No one says anything. I've already given up asking anyone here. Apparently, none of them knows more either.
One of the local buses at the bus stop at the plaza in central Ceveteri
And then, at 5:37 PM, a blue bus with no indication on the display arrives. After it comes to a hold the display changes to “Roma - Ladispoli - Cerveteri.” Just to be sure, I ask the driver again. Yes, this is the right one. The journey home can begin. 80 minutes through the suburbs of Rome, and now on the correct route. The traffic jam has disappeared magically. The children's hospital is no longer being served. Visiting hours must be over. Passo Oscuro is passed without delay. We make it to the scorching bus terminal at Cornelia.
And yet, I'd like to ask: Is it always like this here?
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