The Etruscans in Proceno

The link between Proceno and the Etruscan world emerges in the archaeological remains visible just outside the village. Tradition attributes the foundation of the city to Porsenna, lucumone of Chiusi, and the findings discovered in the area confirm a stable Etruscan presence as early as the 6th century BC.

Colle San Paolo: tuff rooms and votive rituals

In Colle San Paolo there are rooms dug into the tuff and a series of columbaria probably belonging to aristocratic families. In the locality of La Stella , one of the columbaria has a central staircase that leads to a votive altar, a sign of religious ritual.

Il Boschetto: valuable tombs and cremation site

In the Boschetto , the caves and columbaria are excavated with architectural care. The plateau above, called Roghetino , recalls the use of the area for cremation ( rogus in Latin). The area preserves the intact atmosphere of a sacred place, used for centuries and never completely erased by time.

San Donato: cinerary urns and mythological scenes

The necropolis of San Donato is different, more distant, where the tombs are carved out of sandstone. The cinerary urns found here show bas-reliefs with heroic and religious scenes, as well as votive objects such as lamps , amphorae and lacrimaries . The most precious piece is a hut-shaped urn with an inscription from the 2nd century BC, now preserved in the Museum of Montevideo.

Proceno thus preserves one of the least known but most significant Etruscan nuclei of the Viterbo Tuscia , a meeting point between archaeology, landscape and memory.