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Tarquinia National Museum

Discover Tarquinia National Museum

Last updated on October 9, 2026

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Introduction

The Tarquinia National Museum is a state museum devoted chiefly to Etruscan civilisation, and specifically to the ancient city of Tarquinia and its necropoleis. It occupies Palazzo Vitelleschi on piazza Cavour in the historic centre, and belongs to the Parco archeologico di Cerveteri e Tarquinia, an autonomous institute of the Ministry of Culture. It is the indoor half of the UNESCO property whose outdoor half is the painted necropolis of Monterozzi.

Architecture

The museum's building is one of the principal monuments of the early Renaissance in Lazio, and it is visibly a hybrid. Palazzo Vitelleschi was raised between 1436 and 1439 for Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi, under Eugenius IV, though the works were not finished until 1460-90. Its facade shows what the comune calls a perfect mixture of Gothic and Renaissance -- a building caught in the act of changing style.

The unevenness is structural, not stylistic affectation. The palace was built by swallowing what was already there: a group of houses towards via Mazzini, a large wall by the steps of the old circuit of Corneto Vecchio, and most of the wall facing piazza Soderini. The resulting stylistic disjunction, obvious on the facade and in the courtyard, is attributed either to the different building phases or to a change of architect part-way through the work.

The interior is organised vertically, on three floors, and the museum has simply followed the building: stone on the ground floor, ceramics and metalwork on the first, the detached tomb paintings above. The second floor is a square porch, open enough to give a view over the city and the countryside -- a 15th-century loggia doing the work of a gallery.

The last major intervention was repair. On 17 January 1944 the palace was hit by a bomb and seriously damaged, and it required careful restoration after the war.

The short history

Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi built the palace between 1436 and 1439; after his death it housed popes, was modernised by a cardinal-governor of Sixtus V, passed to the Soderini and ended up as a hotel. The comune bought it in 1900 and handed it to the State in 1916, and the national museum opened in it in 1924, formed by merging the civic collection with that of the counts Bruschi-Falgari.

Read the full historical timeline guide →

How it was built and evolved over time

The palace was made out of older fabric. Building began in 1436 for Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi and the shell was up by 1439, but the work went on until 1460-90, and it incorporated several pre-existing structures: a group of houses on the via Mazzini side, a substantial wall beside the steps of the old walls of Corneto Vecchio, and a good part of the wall facing piazza Soderini. That is why the facade and the courtyard do not read as one design -- the explanation offered is either the sequence of building phases or a change of architect during the works.

The museum inside it was assembled the same way, out of parts. Its nucleus is 19th-century and comes from two separate efforts. In 1869 Countess Giustina Bruschi founded a museum of local antiquities at Corneto; its substantial holdings were acquired by the State in 1913 -- all except the Sarcophagus of the Amazons, which had gone to Florence in 1872. In parallel, excavations carried out by the comune on the Monterozzi from 1874 built up a civic collection. The museum that opened in 1924 was the merger of those two, and it has grown ever since on finds from the ancient city and its necropoleis.

The most technically demanding thing in the building was not built but moved. The tomb paintings on the upper floor were detached from the walls of the Monterozzi tombs in the 1950s for conservation reasons, and then remounted on frames that reconstruct the geometry of the burial chambers they came from -- so the visitor sees them in the spatial relationship they had underground.

Frequently asked questions

Are the painted Etruscan tombs here or at the necropolis?

Both. Four of the best-known sets of paintings -- from the Tombs of the Triclinium, the Bigas, the Olympic Games and the Ship -- were detached from the Monterozzi necropolis in the 1950s for conservation and are displayed here, remounted on frames that reconstruct the burial chambers. The necropolis itself is a separate site.

What are the Cavalli Alati?

A high relief of a pair of winged horses that once decorated the Ara della Regina, the Etruscan temple of Tarquinia dating to the 4th century B.C. It was found in 1938 and has been exhibited in the museum since the autumn of that year.

Where is the museum?

In Palazzo Vitelleschi, on piazza Cavour in the historic centre of Tarquinia.

When was the palace built?

Between 1436 and 1439, for Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi under Pope Eugenius IV, with the works completed only in 1460-90. It is considered one of the principal early Renaissance buildings in Lazio, and its facade mixes Gothic and Renaissance.

Why does the building look stylistically inconsistent?

Because it was built around what was already on the site -- houses towards via Mazzini, a large wall by the steps of the old Corneto Vecchio circuit, much of the wall facing piazza Soderini. The disjunction is put down either to the different building phases or to a change of architect during the work.

How did it become a museum?

After Vitelleschi's death the palace was taken over and used by popes, including Leo X, modernised at the end of the 16th century by Cardinal Charles d'Angennes de Rambouillet, then governor for Sixtus V, and later passed to the Soderini, under whom it became a hotel. The comune bought it in 1900 and handed it to the State in 1916; a first Antiquarium was installed, and the national museum followed in 1924.

Where did the collection come from?

From a merger. Countess Giustina Bruschi founded a museum of local antiquities at Corneto in 1869, and the State acquired its holdings in 1913 -- except the Sarcophagus of the Amazons, which went to Florence in 1872. The comune's own excavations on the Monterozzi from 1874 built a civic collection alongside. The two were merged in 1924.

What is the Bocchoris vase?

An Egyptian import of the 24th dynasty, among the Orientalizing material on the first floor -- evidence of how far Tarquinia's trade reached.

Was the building damaged in the war?

Yes. It was hit by a bomb on 17 January 1944 and seriously damaged, and required careful restoration afterwards.

What are the opening hours?

Not published anywhere this page could verify. The comune lists the museum's telephone as +39 0766 856036 and the park's e-mail as pa-certa@cultura.gov.it; call before travelling rather than relying on third-party listings.

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Checked against Wikipedia — Palazzo Vitelleschi, wanted by Cardinal Giovanni Maria Vitelleschi and built between 1436 and 1439 with the works completed only in 1460-90, is considered one of the principal Renaissance palaces of Lazio; it was built incorporating parts of pre-existing buildings, such as a group of houses towards via Mazzini, a large wall by the steps of the ancient walls of Corneto Vecchio, and a good part of the wall towards piazza Soderini, and the stylistic unevenness, clearly visible on the facade and in the courtyard, is due either to the different building phases or to a change of architect during the work, After the cardinal's death Palazzo Vitelleschi was confiscated and used by some pontiffs, among them Leo X; at the end of the sixteenth century it was modernised by Cardinal Charles d'Angennes de Rambouillet, at the time governor for Sixtus V, and finally passed to the Soderini family; at the beginning of the twentieth century the Comune passed it to the State, which set up a first Antiquarium there, and the installation of the seat of the Museo archeologico nazionale di Tarquinia in the palace dates to 1924; on 17 January 1944 it was hit by a bomb which damaged it seriously, requiring careful restoration after the war, The upper floor of the Tarquinia museum is a square porch offering a view over the city and the countryside and houses some of the restored paintings from the tombs of the Necropolis of Monterozzi -- the Tomb of the Triclinium, the Tomb of the Bigas, the Tomb of the Olympic Games and the Tomb of the Ship -- while the Cavalli Alati, a relief of a pair of winged horses which once decorated the Ara della Regina, an Etruscan temple in Tarquinia dating to the fourth century BC, are also exhibited, The route at the Tarquinia museum runs over the three floors of the palace: the ground floor holds stone sculpture, with the sarcophagi of the great Tarquinian families of the late Classical and Hellenistic age including those of the Magnate, the Obeso and Laris Pulenas; the first floor displays the grave goods of the necropoleis, from Villanovan material to imported Greek ceramics, together with the celebrated high relief of the Cavalli alati, found in 1938 at the Ara della Regina and exhibited at the museum from the autumn of that same year, and the medagliere, into which also flowed the coin hoard discovered in 1964 near the great temple; on the second floor are recomposed the paintings of some famous tombs of the Monterozzi, such as those of the Triclinium, the Ship, the Biga and the Olympic Games, detached in the 1950s for conservation reasons and remounted on frames reconstructing the burial chambers (October 2026).
Checked against Comune di Tarquinia — The fifteenth-century Palazzo Vitelleschi, a Renaissance palace built at the wish of Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi between 1436 and 1439 and since 1924 the seat of the Museo archeologico nazionale di Tarquinia, houses the Museo Archeologico Nazionale Etrusco and presents on its facade a perfect mixture of Gothic and Renaissance, evidence of the change of style taking place at the end of the fifteenth century, with the display arranged over the three floors of the palace (October 2026).