DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.847#0465
436 CLU8IUM.
a carritella of a more convenient aud less dislocat-
ing sort than any we had found in the Roman
states, and took a guide of sufficient practical know-
ledge to lead our car the way it should go. We
passed some very large and curious tumuli close to
the town, and had a beautiful drive of about a mile
and a half into a wild wood, where we dismounted
and had to wait until another guide could be pro-
cured, who was the accredited guardian of this
tomb, called,
" GBOTTA DELLE MONACHE,"
VAULT OF THE NUNS.
We walked for a few hundred yards by the side
of a low hill, and then came to the porch of the
tomb. It had a strong wooden door fixed there by
the government, and kept by this man under a
strong lock. We entered and saw a low vaulted
chamber hewn in the rock, after the manner of Tar-
quinia, with an inner chamber of smaller dimen-
sions, and which had two false doors painted, one
on each side. Both the chambers had a broad ledge
all round them, and the two together contained six-
teen coffins. One was a very large old Etruscan
sarcophagus, with a sculptured lid lying by itself
upon an upper shelf. It was quite empty, though
its tenant must once have been the chief person
buried here, and he most likely was the maker of
the tomb; now he appeared as a triton amongst
minnows, for his was the only coffin, according to
our acceptation of the term ; the rest were all cine-
rary chests and urns, many with the ashes remain-
a carritella of a more convenient aud less dislocat-
ing sort than any we had found in the Roman
states, and took a guide of sufficient practical know-
ledge to lead our car the way it should go. We
passed some very large and curious tumuli close to
the town, and had a beautiful drive of about a mile
and a half into a wild wood, where we dismounted
and had to wait until another guide could be pro-
cured, who was the accredited guardian of this
tomb, called,
" GBOTTA DELLE MONACHE,"
VAULT OF THE NUNS.
We walked for a few hundred yards by the side
of a low hill, and then came to the porch of the
tomb. It had a strong wooden door fixed there by
the government, and kept by this man under a
strong lock. We entered and saw a low vaulted
chamber hewn in the rock, after the manner of Tar-
quinia, with an inner chamber of smaller dimen-
sions, and which had two false doors painted, one
on each side. Both the chambers had a broad ledge
all round them, and the two together contained six-
teen coffins. One was a very large old Etruscan
sarcophagus, with a sculptured lid lying by itself
upon an upper shelf. It was quite empty, though
its tenant must once have been the chief person
buried here, and he most likely was the maker of
the tomb; now he appeared as a triton amongst
minnows, for his was the only coffin, according to
our acceptation of the term ; the rest were all cine-
rary chests and urns, many with the ashes remain-