Top 16 Caves around Valentano

The Via Cava di San Rocco is one of the most impressive Etruscan paths in the area. The trail is entirely dug into the tuff, with vertical walls reaching up to 20 meters high, hosting lush vegetation of ferns and mosses. The route connects the Lente river valley with the plateau above. Along the ascent, you will encounter ancient water channeling systems and stairs carved into the rock. Once you reach the upper end, you arrive at the panoramic area of San Rocco, from which you can enjoy the most iconic view of the settlement of Sorano and the Orsini Fortress. The ground can be damp and slippery due to the cool microclimate of the walls.

Through a very narrow, high gorge (can be damp in spring), you finally reach this oratory via steps.

The rupestrian (cave) oratory is located at the top of the San Sebastiano via cava and consists of two irregular rooms, the walls of the chambers were engraved with many Latin crosses, including one on a small mountain that probably represents Golgotha. The oratory was almost certainly realized by using one of the many existing archaic tombs in the upper part of the via Cava, many of which are still visible. In fact, it was common for the monks and Christian hermits of the Middle Ages to take advantage of the remote location of these environments to reach the small places of worship suitable for prayer and meditation. From the various openings in the oratory you can see the wall of the via Cava and the remains of some Etruscan tombs looted in ancient times.

The Tomb of the Mermaid, one of the first monuments in the Etruscan necropolis of Sovana to be subjected to detailed scientific analysis, was discovered by the Englishman S. J. Ainsley and his fellow traveller George Dennis in 1843. The recess, decorated with a blind arcade, would have housed an effigy of the deceased in a half-reclined position, as if attending a banquet in the underworld, while outside stood two demons guarding the entrance to Hades, a man and a woman. The eardrum above the lintel is filled with another of the many monsters that populated the Etruscan underworld, a Scilla - and not a Siren or a Mermaid, as was first thought - holding up the droppings of a shipwreck (on which the soul of the deceased travelled from this place), the coils of her forked tail intertwined around two winged figures. The burial chamber below is very small and probably only housed the burial vault containing the ashes of Vel Nulina, (son of) Vel, as inscribed in the niche. This carved tomb dates to the late 3rd and early 2C BC. At the time of its discovery, the tomb was described as having a large vertical crack running down the left side, which became progressively worse until 1999 when the corner section fell away. This has now been repaired. In fixing the bedrock to prevent further fractures and sorting the broken fragments in 2003, archaeologists have discovered two new sculpted tombs. One is of the "semi-dado" type, of which only the lower section survives, while the other - although in a poor state of repair - has two chambers consisting of a square base section with a cylindrical one above. To this second tomb belongs the fragment with the sculpted female figure currently placed to the left of the Siren. This tomb dates from the late 3rd century AD.

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.

The Via Cava di San Rocco goes up the opposite side of Sorano, skirting the remains of the church of San Rocco, a religious building in Romanesque style now reduced to ruins that maintain sections of the original wall structures. Behind these remains extends a vast Etruscan necropolis with tombs dug into the tuff. The Vie Cave, dug by the Etruscans about 3000 years ago in the tuff, are still shrouded in mystery regarding the technique used to sculpt the rock so precisely and vertically. This street represents the most important of the Vie Cave around Sorano, as it guided the Etruscans to their necropolis. Incredibly, for over six centuries, from the Middle Ages until 1940, it was the only road that connected the city of Sorano to Sovana. Every horse, cart and traveler had no choice but to travel this steep, damp road between its high walls.

Vitozza, a significant rock settlement in the municipality of Sorano, has medieval roots, presumably at the end of the 11th century, around the castle built by the Aldobrandeschi. This castle structure is located in a rock settlement which probably saw settlements already in the Etruscan-Roman era. Over the centuries, Vitozza has passed through various dominations, including Orvieto, the Basques, the Aldobrandeschi, Siena and the Orsini. Despite its historical importance, the settlement suffered a slow decline and progressive abandonment, with the population moving to San Quirico in the sixteenth century. However, the Vitozza caves remained inhabited until the eighteenth century, as documented by the 1783 census conducted by the Lorena family. The history of Vitozza is today told through descriptive panels at the entrances to the caves, highlighting the people and families who lived there centuries ago.

Very impressive hike on the paths of the Etruscans who carved these paths in the tuff...in some places you can still see the traces of working.