Central Italy witnessed a noteworthy event as community leaders and archaeologists congregated in the town of Montalto di Castro.

Their purpose was the unveiling of a tomb that harkens back over 2,500 years, as reported by the municipality in a social media announcement last week.

“Today … we witnessed the opening of an ancient Etruscan tomb buried at the Osteria Necropolis in Vulci,” the municipality of Montalto di Castro, which sits along the Mediterranean Sea about 100 miles northwest of Rome, wrote Oct. 27 on Facebook, calling the grand unveiling “a day of culture and history” in a translated statement.

Historians trace the origins of the Etruscans to a region of land that forms part of contemporary Italy, with their civilization taking root as early as 900 B.C, CBS News reported.

They established a network of city-states that bore similarities to the subsequent Roman Republic.

The Etruscans exercised their influence over Italy until their decline, brought about by the Roman-Etruscan conflicts, culminating in their subjugation by the expanding Roman Empire around the 4th century B.C.

The tomb, unearthed earlier this year, proved to be exceptionally well-preserved when it was officially opened in late October, marking the first time in roughly 2,600 years, as reported by the Italian online magazine “Finestre sull’Arte,” dedicated to the exploration of ancient and contemporary art.

The exploration followed the opening of a similar tomb in the vicinity earlier in April, as documented by the magazine.

Written by B.C. Begley