Cerveteri is a town and comune of northern Lazio in the region of the Metropolitan City of Rome. Known by the ancient Romans as Caere, and previously by the Etruscans as Caisra or Cisra, and as Agylla (or Άγυλλα) by the Greeks, its modern name derives from Caere Vetus used in the 13th century to distinguish it from Caere Novum (the current town). It is the site of the ancient Etruscan city[3]which was one of the most important Etruscan cities with an area more than 15 times larger than today's town. Caere was one of the city-states of the Etruscan League and at its height, around 600 BC, its population was perhaps around 25,000 – 40,000 people.

The Etruscan Necropolis of Banditaccia is located in top of a hill north to Cerveteri and it is beyond doubt one of the most interesting archeological sites to visit so much as to be declared, together with the Etruscan Necropolis of Tarquiniain 2004 UNESCO World Heritage The Necropolis expands for about 10 hectares and is formed by almost 400 tombs, the oldest dating back to the Villanovan culture (ninth century BC) and the most recent to the Etruscan period (third century BC. The feeling in the air walking within the Necropolis of Banditaccia is simply unique! It is a great and well preserved site, inside which you will really feel like you can go back in time and live again the life of this misterious as well as fascinating civilisation.

Inhabited before the 7th century BC, the town's native population changed several times, from Etruscans to Romans. Numerous tombs from the Etruscan and Roman periods can be found in the area. The town as it looks today was founded in 1236 when the inhabitants of its Caere neighbour abandoned the former to be better protected by rock formations. To this, they gave the name of Caere Novum (simply Ceri, not to be confused with another neighbour, Cerenova), in order to distinguish it from the ancient city, Caere Vetus (today Cerveteri). In the same period, the castle was constructed for the defence of the town.