Tomba Ildebranda

The Ildebranda Tomb at Sovana is an Etruscan rock-cut monument with a temple-like facade carved into the tuff of Poggio Felceto.

Why it matters

Unlike chamber tombs hidden behind simple entrances, the Ildebranda Tomb reproduces the form of a temple in rock. Its podium, stairways, columns and sculpted decoration make it an exceptional expression of Hellenistic-period funerary architecture in Etruria.

What to notice

The facade has lateral stairways and a colonnade of grooved columns. One column retains figures on its capital, and traces of painted plaster survive on the rock. A relief frieze depicts griffins and a female figure. Beneath the podium, a corridor leads to a cruciform burial chamber; a side passage connects to an older tomb with a Greek-influenced interior.

Context and history

The tomb was excavated in 1924 under the direction of Gino Rosi. Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli published a study in 1929 interpreting its upper structure as an Etrusco-Italic temple of the Hellenistic age. Dating is generally placed in the third or second century BC. The modern name honours Ildebrando da Sovana, who became Pope Gregory VII.