The etruscan civilization of ancient Italy still holds many mysteries. One of the deepest mysteries concerning the etruscan civilization concerns the location of the now lost tomb of Porsenna, the fabled king of Clusium, who, in the Vth century BC, conquered and briefly occupied Rome. According to Pliny the elder, the king was buried "sub urbe Clusio", under the city of Clusium, in an underground maze of tunnels and passageways. Amongst the many treasures which accompanied the deceased king in his ethernal rest, was, according to tradition, a gold chariot, upon which the coffin was placed, together with a still more valuable treasure, the sacred "Libri Fulgurales", dealing with magick and the art of evoking storms and lightening. As a matter of fact, Porsenna is still held as a powerful wizard, the king who burned to the ground the city of Velsinii with lightening, and who killed by the same means a monster called Olt, maybe a huge bore.
However, the most amazing mystery is the tomb of Porsenna himself, being different from any other known etruscan tomb, a building still unparalleled, whose purposes are still unknown. Here is a description of the tomb, according to Pliny the elder:

"He was buried under the city of Clusium, in a spot where he has left a monument in rectangular masonry, each side whereof is [A unit conversion]three hundred feet wide, and fifty high, and within the square of the basement is an inextricable labyrinth, out of which no one who ventures in without a clue of thread, can ever find an exit. On that square basement stand five pyramids, four at the angles, and one in the centre, each being [A unit conversion]seventy-five feet wide at its base, and one hundred and fifty high, and all so terminating above, as to support a brazen circle and petasus, from which are hung by chains certain bells, which, when stirred by the wind, resound afar off, as was formerly the case at Dodona. Upon this circle four other pyramids are based, each rising to the height of [A unit conversion]one hundred feet. And above these, from one floor, five more pyramids, the height whereof Varro was ashamed to mention. The Etruscan fables record that it equal to that of the rest of the structure."

"namque et Italicum dici convenit, quem fecit sibi Porsina, rex Etruriae, sepulchri causa, simul ut externorum regum vanitas quoque Italis superetur. sed cum excedat omnia fabulositas, utemur ipsius M. Varronis in expositione ea verbis: Sepultus sub urbe Clusio, in quo loco monimentum reliquit lapide quadrato quadratum, singula latera pedum tricenum, alta quinquagenum. in qua basi quadrata intus labyrinthum inextricabile, quo si quis introierit sine glomere lini, exitum invenire nequeat.
92

supra id quadratum pyramides stant quinque, quattuor in angulis et in medio una, imae latae pedum quinum septuagenum, altae centenum quinquagenum, ita fastigatae, ut in summo orbis aeneus et petasus unus omnibus sit inpositus, ex quo pendeant exapta catenis tintinabula, quae vento agitata longe sonitus referant, ut Dodonae olim factum.
93

supra quem orbem quattuor pyramides insuper singulae stant altae pedum centenum. supra quas uno solo quinque pyramides. quarum altitudinem Varronem puduit adicere; fabulae Etruscae tradunt eandem fuisse quam totius operis ad eas, vesana dementia, quaesisse gloriam inpendio nulli profuturo, praeterea fatigasse regni vires, ut tamen laus maior artificis esset. "

[Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, XXXVI]

To better understand the shape of this unique building, here is a 1790 painting by Jean Jacques Lequeux.



A recently discovered ruined city, amongst the biggest ever discovered dating to pre-roman times, might held clues towards the location of the fabled tomb. Check the following article.

economist.com[/I]

Thats pretty big to keep underground, we would have a hard time as it is in todays technology to build such a tomb.

Looks like something you'd find in the Elder Scrolls.... quite impessive if it was ever real...maybe an 8th wonder....

Well, the structure in the picture was built above the tomb, that is to say, above ground. The tomb was below it, in an underground maze of tunnels many miles wide. It is likely. however, the avbove ground structure could have been razed to the ground by the armies of Sulla, who destroyed the city of Clusium.