イスキア・ディ・カストロの峡谷・トップ6

The €7.00 entrance fee is well worth it. You get a brochure and there are information boards everywhere in Italian and English, sometimes even in German.

Monumental and fascinating, steeped in history and at the same time immersed in nature

Entrance fee 7€ pp (as of Sep 2024)

The Vie Cave, sometimes also called Cavoni, form a suggestive road system from the Etruscan era that connects various settlements and necropolises between Pitigliano, Sovana and Sorano. They mainly develop between steep tuff rock walls, some of which exceed twenty meters in height. In Roman times, these streets became part of a road network connected to the main trunk of the Via Clodia, an ancient road that connected Rome to Saturnia, passing through the city of Tuscania and branching off from the Via Cassia in Lazio. The Via Cava di San Giuseppe is one of the most evocative in the area, as well as the longest, leading up to Pitigliano. This street is associated with the traditional torchlight procession of San Giuseppe, which is held on March 19th. The link between ancient pagan rites and the dark atmosphere along the route, which still persists today, dates back to Christian times, when small niches with painted sacred images, known as "devil chasers", were dug to protect travellers.

If you want to get a glimpse of the chocolate side of Pitigliano on foot, you have to walk through the Cava di Madona to the other side of the valley. The cava itself is a special experience. When wet, the stone is sometimes quite slippery. Appropriate footwear is then recommended.

A little steep but very spectacular

Carved out of the tuff by the Etruscans. Very impressive

Etruscan hollow ways including caves below Pitigliano. Very atmospheric and a welcome cool down on a hot day.