It was a slow morning for us, still trying to recover from the very late dinner with Cipo, family and a bunch of his high school friends two nights ago...we didn't get home until after midnight!! Cooler weather greeted us in Pitigliano, so the puffy jackets came back out! Today we were going to explore the vie cava.
We descend through the Sovana gate to arrive at via cava di poggio cani. Vie cava are the ancient Etruscan roads dug by hand into the tufaceous rock. Were they used as links to transport goods or to communicate between villages; or as part of a defensive network or as scared paths leading towards necropolises (cemeteries)? Although the purpose of these excavated roads remains unclear, they are lovely to wander along.
Crossing the Lente River, we head for via cava di san giuseppe, one of the longest paths. In some parts the walls are so tall that sun doesn't penetrate into the via cava and so green moss carpets the rock. The girls pick up their own tuff rocks and begin to 'carve' as we walk. Soon their hands are covered in fine white powder as their creations take shape.
The via cava flattens out after 1.5km and on reaching a cross road, we decide to double back so we could explore another one of these trails nearby. Soon we found ourselves crossing the Meleta river and walking up via cava della madonna delle grazie. This one was certainly impressive - narrow, windy and steep.
We emerge onto the road in front of the Sanctuary Madonna delle Grazie, a popular panoramic point for viewing Pitigliano. After snapping a few shots ourselves, we retreat back down the via cava halting for lunch on lush mossy boulders. It was a quick stop as the wind was relentless making us all very cold. We returned to our apartment and spent the afternoon poking around the quiet hilltop town of Pitigliano.
No comments:
Post a Comment