Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella and Castrum Caetani

The Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella is one of the symbolic places of the Via Appia Antica (Rome).

This funerary monument built between 30 and 10 BC, which stands at the third mile of the road, about 300 m south of the complex of Maxentius, still impresses the traveler today for its grandeur and elegance, which add to the charm of having been reused in medieval times as a tower of a perfectly preserved castle.

The tomb appears on the outside as a tall cylinder covered with travertine slabs, resting on a square base of which only the cement core in flint flakes is mostly preserved.

Inside, a conical-shaped sepulchral chamber open on the top with an oculus, housed the body of a rich Roman matron belonging to one of the most important noble families of the time and probably daughter-in-law of the famous Marcus Licinius Crassus, a member with Caesar and Pompey of the I triumvirate in 59 BC

Visiting this archaeological site does not only mean being able to access the tomb of Cecilia Metella, but also walking through the rooms of the castle (castrum) built in the early 14th century by the Caetani family. This bought the lands of the locality where the monument stood (called Capo di Bove for the frieze with ox skulls that decorates the mausoleum) and built a wall with a church, a palace and a tower inside raised on the bulk of the Roman tomb.

The residential part of the fortification, with its typical crenellated walls and beautiful mullioned windows, now houses the "Appia Museum", a collection of statues, sarcophagi, inscriptions and reliefs from the Via Appia Antica and relating to the rich funerary monuments that overlooked it.