DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0232
130 FALLERI. [chap. vii.
or three miles over the heath, you reach the Fosso de'
Tre Camini, and where you cross the stream are traces of
an ancient bridge. Just before coming in sight of Palleri,
you reach a tomb, which cannot fail to strike you with
admiration as you come suddenly upon it, even should
you already have seen every other necropolis in Etruria.
A wide recess in the cliff is occupied by a spacious
portico of three large arches, hewn out of the rock,
but with a bold cornice of masonry above, of massive
tufo blocks, now somewhat dislocated, and concealed
by the overhanging foliage. A door in the inner wall
of the portico, of the usual Etruscan form, slightly nar-
rowing upwards, opens into the sepulchre. Sepulchre!
to an unpractised eye the structure looks far more like a
habitation ; and in truth the antiquary must see in it an
imitation of an ancient abode. The portico is surrounded
by an elegant cornice, carved in the rock; the door, to
which you ascend by steps, is ornamented with mouldings
in relief. Within it, is the small antechamber, with the
usual chimney or funnel in its ceiling ; and then you enter
a spacious, gloomy chamber. Its flat ceiling is supported
in the midst by a massive square pillar, in the front of
which are three long, shallow niches, one over the other ;
and in the walls of the tomb are smaller niches for urns or
votive offerings. Under the portico the rock is cut into
benches for sarcophagi, and long holes are sunk in the
ground for the reception of bodies, which, with the excep-
tion of being covered over with tiles, must have been
exposed to the passers-by, as the arches of the portico
could hardly have been closed. The cornice around the
portico and the mouldings of the door are almost Roman
in character; yet that the tomb is of Roman construction
I do not believe. In form and arrangement it is too
nearly allied to the Etruscan tombs of this district. It is
or three miles over the heath, you reach the Fosso de'
Tre Camini, and where you cross the stream are traces of
an ancient bridge. Just before coming in sight of Palleri,
you reach a tomb, which cannot fail to strike you with
admiration as you come suddenly upon it, even should
you already have seen every other necropolis in Etruria.
A wide recess in the cliff is occupied by a spacious
portico of three large arches, hewn out of the rock,
but with a bold cornice of masonry above, of massive
tufo blocks, now somewhat dislocated, and concealed
by the overhanging foliage. A door in the inner wall
of the portico, of the usual Etruscan form, slightly nar-
rowing upwards, opens into the sepulchre. Sepulchre!
to an unpractised eye the structure looks far more like a
habitation ; and in truth the antiquary must see in it an
imitation of an ancient abode. The portico is surrounded
by an elegant cornice, carved in the rock; the door, to
which you ascend by steps, is ornamented with mouldings
in relief. Within it, is the small antechamber, with the
usual chimney or funnel in its ceiling ; and then you enter
a spacious, gloomy chamber. Its flat ceiling is supported
in the midst by a massive square pillar, in the front of
which are three long, shallow niches, one over the other ;
and in the walls of the tomb are smaller niches for urns or
votive offerings. Under the portico the rock is cut into
benches for sarcophagi, and long holes are sunk in the
ground for the reception of bodies, which, with the excep-
tion of being covered over with tiles, must have been
exposed to the passers-by, as the arches of the portico
could hardly have been closed. The cornice around the
portico and the mouldings of the door are almost Roman
in character; yet that the tomb is of Roman construction
I do not believe. In form and arrangement it is too
nearly allied to the Etruscan tombs of this district. It is