Located 5 km from Perugia, at Ponte San Giovanni, this is the tomb of the Volumni family, a powerful aristocratic Etruscan family from Perugia. The tomb, which was discovered in 1840, is one of the most important of Etruria’s monuments, and is part of the vast Palazzone necropolis, which extends all around the hypogeum and is dotted with numerous chamber tombs going from the early Etruscan era (6th cent. B.C.) to the Hellenic period (3rd-1st cent. B.C.). The hypogeum is dug deeply out of the ground and can be reached by a steep flight of steps down. In the atrium are numerous cinerary urns from the surrounding necropolis, which visitors may explore by way of a special guided route.
The name of the family is visible on the numerous inscriptions on the cinerary urns as well as on the one above the entrance, which bears the name of the owners of the tomb, the Velimna brothers (in Latin Volumni). The tomb is built in the architectural style of a Roman house and is composed of a vestibule, an atrium and a series of open rooms, with lacunar ceilings and pediments.
In the tablinium are seven cinerary urns, six of which are in stuccoed travertine and one in marble. The one belonging to the head of the family, Arunte, features a bed adorned with drapes on which the deceased is reclining. At each side of the base are two lasas, or winged demons, watching over the entrance to the underworld, which is portrayed in a painting between the two. The tomb dates back to the period between the second half of the 2nd century and the first half of the 1st century B.C. The necropolis is also home to an Antiquarium which hosts temporary themed exhibitions linked to objects found in the same area.
Are you a local? What do you think about Ipogeo of the Volumes?
Login to suggest it!