Tarquinia National Museum

The Tarquinia National Museum occupies the Palazzo Vitelleschi, a magnificent 15th-century Gothic-Renaissance palace in the centre of the medieval town. The collection is one of the finest assemblages of Etruscan material anywhere, gathered from the necropolises and settlement sites of ancient Tarquinia over two centuries of excavation.

The ground floor holds large-scale sculpture and architectural fragments, including the celebrated Winged Horses. The upper floors contain pottery, bronzes, gold jewellery, and an exceptional collection of painted Etruscan sarcophagi — elaborately decorated stone coffins with reclining figures on the lids. The museum also contains some of the better-preserved tomb paintings that have been removed from the necropolis for conservation. Allow at least two hours; the palace itself is worth seeing for its courtyard and loggia.

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A story
The museum's most famous object is the Winged Horses of Tarquinia — a terracotta relief from the 4th or 3rd century BC that decorated the pediment of the Ara della Regina, the most important temple of ancient Tarquinia. The two horses in profile, facing each other with wings spread, are among the masterpieces of Etruscan art. The original site of the temple can be visited on the plateau above the modern town.