Etruscan Architecture
The Etruscans, in about 700 B.C, were the first people in northern and central Italy to build big stone buildings.  They learned to use their big stone temples for their gods.  Not many temples would survive because some were made out of wood and clay.  Just like the greeks the  Etruscans had a stone room on the inside called the cella. There were raised plateforms that raised them off the ground and peaked roofs with columns. The difference of the Etruscan temples the columns were only in the front not all the way around.  Sometimes the platforms were 2 meters high or(6 feet) and the steps were only in the front, too.
Etruscan temples often had little stone statues on the roof.  Lastly the arch which was one of the main features in the architecture of the Etruscans.  The stone arch was used in different ways such as from temples, to caves, and sometimes houses.  A formal arch with tall circular columns would be in a circle and probably marking a place where the family gathered. Houses were made out of wood and mud-bricks and for that reason many were destroyed.   The Etruscans made their tomb out of stone and liked it so much they wanted their houses to be similar.