The Most Remarkable Necropolises in Europe
5 places in 3 countries · updated 14 October 2026
In short: By our ranking, the most remarkable necropolises in Europe are Necropolis of Pantalica (Italy), Necropolis of Monterozzi (Italy) and Necropolis of stecci at Radimlja, the historic site (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The list covers 5 necropolises in 3 countries. Italy has the most, with 3. Last updated 14 October 2026.
For the peoples of ancient Europe, the city of the dead was often built more carefully than the city of the living. Soft volcanic tuff in central Italy and limestone cliffs in Sicily could be cut into chambers, so tombs became durable copies of houses, complete with doors, beds and painted walls, while the homes of their builders vanished. Later cultures continued the habit in their own forms, from the Hellenistic rock tombs of Cyprus to the carved medieval gravestones of the western Balkans.
In south-eastern Sicily, the Necropolis of Pantalica lines the limestone gorges of the Anapo and Calcinara with thousands of rock-cut tombs, used mostly from the 13th to the 7th century BC. Two Etruscan cities north of Rome show contrasting ways of burying the dead. At Monterozzi, near Tarquinia, underground chambers carry painted scenes of banquets, dancers and musicians, among the richest surviving examples of Etruscan art. At Banditaccia, outside Cerveteri, great round tumuli are laid out along streets like a town.
At Paphos on Cyprus, the Tombs of the Kings are carved straight into the bedrock, some with peristyle courtyards ringed by Doric columns. Their name reflects their grandeur rather than their occupants: they held officials and wealthy families of Hellenistic and Roman times. At Radimlja, near Stolac in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a field of stećci, massive medieval tombstones, carries reliefs of riders, hunters, spirals and a figure with a raised hand.
In this list
| # | Place | Type | Country | UNESCO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Necropolis of Pantalica | Necropolis | Italy | ✓ |
| 2 | Necropolis of Monterozzi | Necropolis | Italy | ✓ |
| 3 | Necropolis of stecci at Radimlja, the historic site | Necropolis | Bosnia and Herzegovina | ✓ |
| 4 | Tombs of the Kings, Paphos | Necropolis | Cyprus | ✓ |
| 5 | Necropolis Banditaccia | Necropolis | Italy |
01 Necropolis of Pantalica
Pantalica
Italy · 28.1 km from Syracuse37.133° N 14.983° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
Danny Krull · CC BY-SA 2.0 The necropolis served a community that flourished on the plateau from about 1250 to 650 BC, during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, before and during the first Greek settlement of Sicily. The tombs are grouped into five main cemeteries, known as Filiporto, North West, Cavetta, North and South, and their date shifts from one area to another. On the summit stand the foundations of the so-called Anaktoron, or prince's palace, a multi-roomed building of large stone blocks whose date is debated: some see it as a Late Bronze Age residence inspired by the palaces of the Bronze Age Aegean, others as much later.
Did you know? Around 1050 BC the community seems to have moved away to the Cassibile area, returning to Pantalica in the first half of the 9th century BC.
02 Necropolis of Monterozzi
Necropoli dei Monterozzi
Italy · 16.8 km from Civitavecchia42.250° N 11.770° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
Gsimonov · Public domain The frescoes are anything but funereal. The Tomb of the Leopards has some of the best preserved colours of all; the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing opens onto a world of boats, nets and birds; the Tomb of the Augurs is given over to ritual and games; the Tomb of the Triclinium is all feasting, music and dance, and the Tomb of the Bigas to racing chariots. Later chambers turn darker. The Tomb of Orcus holds the only known painting of Tuchulcha, a beaked and snake-haired demon of the Etruscan underworld, and the Tomb of the Blue Demons fills its walls with figures from the world below. The Tomb of the Bulls, painted around the 530s BC, is one of the very few with openly erotic scenes.
03 Necropolis of stecci at Radimlja, the historic site
Nekropola Radimlja
Bosnia and Herzegovina · 29.9 km from Mostar43.093° N 17.923° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
Joanne Goldby from Birmingham, UK · CC BY-SA 2.0 The necropolis holds 133 stones, set in rows beside the road. They take almost every form the type is known for: flat slabs, chests, tall chests on plinths, and gabled "sarcophagi" that look like little stone houses. Nearly half are decorated, in relief or by engraving, and the finest are the tall chests reserved for the local elite. The oldest pieces go back to the late fourteenth century, but most were carved between the late fifteenth and the early sixteenth century, and the limestone came from the hill of Ošanjići above the site.
Did you know? One epitaph says that good Radoje, son of voivode Stipan, lies on his own patrimony at Batnoge, the medieval name of the settlement.
More about Necropolis of stecci at Radimlja, the historic site →
04 Tombs of the Kings, Paphos
Τάφοι των ΒασιλÎων
Cyprus · 2.8 km from Paphos34.776° N 32.405° E
- UNESCO World Heritage
Image by dimitrisvetsikas1969 from Pixabay What makes the site remarkable is that many of the tombs imitate the houses of the living. The finest have been sunk into the bedrock around an open central court, surrounded on all sides by a peristyle of Doric columns carved from the rock itself, with doorways leading to burial chambers and niches for the dead. Some walls kept traces of painted plaster. Seen from the edges of these sunken courtyards, they resemble small underground villas open to the sky, a few hundred metres from the sea.
Did you know? The excavator has linked Tomb 8 to the Ptolemaic royal house, possibly the burial of the last king of Cyprus, who killed himself when Rome took the island.
05 Necropolis Banditaccia
Necropoli della Banditaccia
Italy · 26.9 km from Civitavecchia42.006° N 12.100° E
Sailko · CC BY 3.0 The cemetery was in use for the better part of seven centuries, from the Villanovan period of the ninth century BC to the late Etruscan era of the third century BC. The earliest burials were simple pits for cremation urns. Later came the two forms that shape the landscape today: the tumuli, circular drums built in tuff with their chambers carved out of the living rock beneath, and the so-called dice tombs, plain cube-like tombs set in long orderly rows along the funerary roads. The whole necropolis covers about 400 hectares and is thought to hold around a thousand tombs, of which roughly ten hectares are laid out for visitors.
Did you know? Because Etruscan houses had no cupboards, the Tomb of the Reliefs shows weapons, tools, pets and kitchen utensils hanging on the walls exactly as they would have at home.
How this list is ranked
Places are chosen for how they look, not for how famous they are: each one has its own description and a photograph credited to its author. The order is a single world ranking that weighs the beauty of the place in curated photography together with how widely it is documented — the number of language editions of its encyclopedia article and how often that article is read in a year. The list is rebuilt as places are added, so the order and the counts on this page are always current.
Questions people ask
- What are the most remarkable necropolises in Europe?
- On our list, Necropolis of Pantalica (Italy) ranks first, followed by Necropolis of Monterozzi (Italy) and Necropolis of stecci at Radimlja, the historic site (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
- Which country has the most necropolises in Europe?
- In our collection, the most come from Italy (3), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1) and Cyprus (1).
- Who was buried in the Tombs of the Kings in Paphos?
- Despite the name, no kings are known to have been buried there. The rock-cut tombs held high officials and aristocratic families of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and were named for their size and splendour.
- What are stećci?
- Stećci are monolithic medieval tombstones found mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina and neighbouring countries, many decorated with carved figures and ornament. A group of their graveyards, including Radimlja, is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
- What do the Etruscan tomb paintings at Tarquinia show?
- The painted chambers of the Monterozzi necropolis show banquets, music, dancing, athletic games, hunting and fishing, as well as scenes of the afterlife. They are among the most important sources for what Etruscan life looked like.
- How many necropolises are on this list in Europe?
- The list covers 5 necropolises in 3 countries. Italy has the most, with 3.