Nella rocca della famiglia dei principi Ruspoli, risalente al XIII secolo, ha sede il National Museum of Cerveteri. The exhibition criteria of the collection take into account the chronology.
For the oldest period, some grave goods from the Sorbo necropolis are exhibited, with biconical vessels, functioning as cinerary urns, both female (bowl-shaped lid) and male (helmet-shaped lid). For the Orientalizing period (7th century BC), numerous grave goods from the necropolis of Monte Abatone, Casaletti di Ceri, and Laghetto are exhibited.
Of particular interest are a vessel decorated with a mythical couple (Helen and Menelaus?) from the early 7th century BC; a cinerary urn shaped like a hut in red pottery with white overpainting (Monte Abatone) from the 7th century BC; a terracotta cinerary urn representing a married couple reminiscent of the homonymous sarcophagus preserved in the Villa Giulia museum. From the chamber tombs in the Banditaccia locality come grave goods with imported Greek materials, including a Rhodian balmarium shaped like a leg, an oinochoe of similar origin, as well as a large Corinthian Etruscan crater known as the Gobbi.
Also exhibited are 6th century BC grave goods from the Banditaccia and Monte Abatone, Corinthian and Laconian imported vessels, Attic black-figure pottery including kylikes, Tyrrhenian amphorae with inscriptions and red-figure pottery including the large kylix with Peleus and Thetis. Local productions are also present, represented by rare Ceretan hydriai and a wide range of bucchero wares.
Two sarcophagus lids from the tomb of the Tamsnie with inscriptions recalling the Etruscan name of the city (Caisre) are also exhibited. The exhibition concludes with a selection of some votive objects from the Manganello temple as well as architectural materials found in recent urban area excavations.
Among the most recent acquisitions is the Odescalchi collection which, donated to the museum, includes vessels of Etruscan, Greek, and Southern Italian production and covers a chronological span from the 7th century BC to the Roman era.
