Il Dolce Viaggio: Pitigliano

Community Highlights Family Travel Il Dolce Viaggio: Pitigliano

When I planned out our itinerary it would have been easy enough to let Montepulciano be the final adventure of our journey. It was only a two hour drive to Rome on the highway and we could have made it there from Radicofani by early evening. Then we could have had a leisurely dinner and spent our final day at Rome's large aquatic park Hydromania. I had considered that option but it bothered me to blast through so much territory without knowing what we were missing. We had visited a sprinkling of small towns in Umbria on our first visit to Italy ten years earlier but I didn't know much about the northern reaches of Rome's own province of Lazio. I pulled up my usual tools of Google Maps, travel blogs, and magazine articles and soon discovered Pitigliano. This ancient city is actually at the southern edge of Tuscany, closer to the border of Lazio, and it seemed like a perfect place to stop overnight. After reviewing a few photos of the compact town perched at the edge of a precipice I knew we had to experience it in person.

Before we reached Pitigliano we made a stop at another clifftop hamlet called Sorano. These towns were originally built by the Etruscans on elevated spurs of tuff, a relatively soft volcanic rock that tends to be sculpted into steep ridges by the forces of erosion. This position made the towns much easier to defend in that they only had to worry about invasion from the narrow corridor where the ridge met the larger land mass, as the surrounding cliffs were insurmountable. We parked in the first free spot we found after entering the town, figuring that it couldn't be a long walk to the medieval center. After a short walk downhill we found the rectangular, downsloping Piazza del Municipio where an outdoor cafe provided the opportunity for refreshments. Although we had left the highest temperatures of the day behind us it was still quite sunny and over ninety degrees.

A little further onward we came to an archway with blocky, corrugated voussoirs that contrasted sharply with the darker limestone masonry of the medieval building around it. This style of archway proved to be common throughout the town. On the other side of the arch was the old town, although the houses that lined the main street closest to the entrance had cheery pastel facades that had likely been upgraded within the last decade. As we penetrated more deeply into the town the colors disappeared and the buildings showed more of the scars of centuries of wear.

Although the old town appeared small on the map, in practical terms it was quite complex to explore. The ridge the town was built on was far from flat and the multistory stone houses crept down the sides of the cliffs on every side. There were several blind alleys within which Escherian staircases led to small landings that were shared by several apartments. We proceeded to the very end of the town where the Masso Leopoldino fortress had unfortunately just closed, denying us a view over the town's rooftops. Finally we found our way to a overlook at the edge of the ridge and were rewarded with a sidelong view of ancient buildings merging with the vegetation at the edges of the ridge. A couple of structures had already collapsed and were being reclaimed by nature. In the distance we could see the square openings of the caves that the Etruscans had dug into cliff walls thousands of years earlier to use as tombs and storage.

It was just another fifteen minutes drive to Pitigliano. We approached from the north which gave us only tantalizing glimpses of the compact row of buildings atop the cliff. We found an open free parking space in the piazza just outside the old town and self checked-in to our two level Airbnb, a sparkling unit that had been updated with all modern amenities without losing its timeworn character. We quickly extracted ourselves and proceeded to the old town as we only had one evening in Pitigliano and we wanted to catch the restaurants as they opened. The entrance to the medieval town was via a short bridge that passed over a busy street one switchback underneath us.

The historic center seemed lively but certainly not overrun with tourists. Nevertheless my chosen restaurant was displaying a sign on their window that they were fully booked for the evening, a situation confirmed by a head shake from the proprietor. We proceeded inward to Piazza della Repubblica next to the well-preserved remnants of the city's aqueduct. I misinformed the kids that this was a Roman ruin before I looked it up and learned that it was built in the seventeenth century by the powerful Medici family to give the town running water for the first time. I knew there was a famous fountain in the piazza but in my rush to find a restaurant before they all filled I misidentified it as the freestanding travertine pool in the center of the square. I didn't realize until the next day that I had completely missed it in the background where it was set into the center of the aqueduct.

I had only researched one restaurant so I had to scramble with the apps to find a worthy alternative. Our next option, Dalla Pepita, was almost concerningly empty but the proprietor showed us to an outdoor seating area in the rear where some tables were already filled. We proceeded to have a fairly typical dinner for this journey: good if not inspiring food in a pleasant atmosphere. We remembered to order Mei Ling’s steak rare and it actually arrived that way. One thing I liked was that the proprietor made no attempt to speak English which allowed me to demonstrate that my Italian skills had clearly improved in recent weeks.

While we waited for our food I ducked out for a quick spin through the old town to take some pictures while it was still light. I was immediately captivated by the town. Even though by now we had seen dozens of ancient cities in Italy, something felt different about Pitigliano. The narrow lanes were lined with two and three story homes that seemed much taller due to the narrowness of the streets. Despite their rickety appearance and crumbling facades the stone buildings had obviously stood for centuries. It seemed like their antiquated appearance was more of a choice than a necessity, as it wouldn’t have taken much to plaster and paint their facades. Many buildings were extensively decorated with flowers and greenery in planters that were placed in every possible location. Much of the town seemed purely residential although there was a concentration of restaurants and art galleries on the central artery.

In the heart of the centro storico is Piazza San Gregorio VII, marked by the facade and the looming belltower of the eight hundred year old Pitigliano Cathedral. At the end of the square there was a restaurant with an illuminated outdoor patio. All the tables were filled and the atmosphere was so perfect that I felt a momentary pang of regret that we hadn’t pushed deeper into the town before settling on our dinner location. I was consoled by the uneven reviews of their food and the decent quality of our own dishes once they arrived.

After dinner it was already dark but we still wandered through the town together until we reached the tip of the ridge. By now there was hardly anyone walking in this part of the town. There were a few viewpoints on either side from which we could look out over the surrounding hillsides. To the south we could see the illuminated outline of the Madonna delle Grazie church. I felt very grateful that I had stumbled on this extraordinarily beautiful yet unheralded corner of Italy. I’m sure if it was closer to either Rome or Florence and more easily accessible via trains that it would have been overrun with tourists and filled with gelaterias. I was also glad to realize I could still feel so inspired by a new town even after six weeks of continuous migration through Italy.

As we reached the piazza outside our Airbnb we began to hear the sound of loud drumming. It sounded like a military drum corps and it couldn't have been more than a block away. We were exhausted but we couldn't just go to bed without knowing what was going on so we followed the sound. The source turned out to be a little further away than we expected but still not a long walk. Surprisingly there was no band at all but rather a local football game. The drums were sound effects being played over speakers. The game was clearly more important than a neighborhood pickup as the players were competing rather intensely and there was a small row of bleachers with about a hundred spectators. We watched them play for about ten minutes and then retired for the night.

in the morning we decided to go back through the old town once more before leaving Pitigliano. This time I made sure to get a close look at the Fontana delle Sette Cannelle. The fountain was commissioned by the local head of the powerful Orsini family upon the completion of the head of the aqueduct and is named for the seven spouts that originally adorned it. Five of the seven remain and only two are functional. According to various sources the seven spouts were crafted in the shape of animal heads but the two from which water was streaming appeared to have human faces. Perhaps they were a part of a later renovation. The Orsinis also gave their name to the fortress on Piazza delle Republica that they converted into a palace and is now a museum.

The old town was surprisingly devoid of pedestrians in the morning. It seemed that many visitors didn't get past the cafes in Piazza delle Republica. Most of the galleries and boutiques wouldn't open until ten. An elderly woman in a red dress sat outdoors in a small square festooned with greenery and I wished her a good morning. She seemed very amused by the kids and I asked her if the water from a nearby fountain was potable. She replied with it wasn't just drinkable, it was magnificent so we refilled our water bottles and continued onward.

I was hoping that I might be able to climb to the top of the belltower of the cathedral for a view over the town's rooftops, but when I entered the building it was empty and there was no sign of an access to the tower. Some quick research indicated that the belltower was unlikely to be open to the public. At the far end of the town we found a wide staircase that descended gently to a lower level of the ridge. From here we were able to see the profile of the town with the stone houses seemingly growing out of the tuff ridge. We concluded our tour in the small Jewish quarter that features a synagogue that was built in 1598. Pitigliano was once known as Little Jerusalem because of the large number of Jews who came to live in the town subsequent to the Hebraeorum Gens expulsion from the papal territories in 1569. Even in Pitigliano the Jews still faced discrimination and abuse and were forced to live in one small area of the town.

By now we found ourselves walking the same streets repeatedly and we realized there was no reason to stay longer in Pitigliano, even though we loved the atmosphere of the town. One crucial element we had missed so far was a view of the town's clifftop position from the outside, so we returned to the Airbnb and loaded our suitcases into the car. We only had to drive a couple of minutes south to reach the Madonna delle Grazie church, located next to a hairpin loop in the road with a small parking area. Although the fifteenth century church had appeared magnificent from afar the previous evening, illuminated brightly against the dark hillside, it seemed to be an innocuous rural chapel by the light of day. Adjacent to the loop was a wall of tuff with a cave marked by a neat archway entrance. A sign proclaimed it in English that it was a wine shop. Was it a repurposed Etruscan cave or a fresh excavation? I had too many things on my mind to ask the proprietor who was seated outside. The real star of the show here was the view of the town, which seemed like a solid sculpture that had been carved from the cliff. In the very center the cathedral belltower rose high above the rooftops. Aside from the breathtaking beauty of the town, it seemed like a monument to human resourcefulness. Countless years ago a band of wanderers had come to an inhospitable empty ridge with no water and no shelter and crafted a strong and secure homestead that had survived the elements for millennia. I wonder what the denizens of different eras would have thought seeing the cafes and galleries that are now sprinkled through their creation.

I had one other important sight on my list for the area around Pitigliano. The Via Cave is a network of excavated channels originally constructed by the Etruscans to connect their various settlements in the area. The roads continued to be used by the Romans and then the medieval Italians and are quite popular in the present day with hikers and travelers. It isn't clear why the Etruscans chose the arduous task of cutting through rock to make these roads but it is possible that they were much shallower initially. As cartwheels dug into and deformed the soft tuff underneath them the roads had to be continuously recut and smoothened until the channels were quite deep. There are numerous sections of Via Cave around Pitigliano, some of which connect with the other clifftop cities in the area. I chose Via Cava di Fratenuti because there were fewer complaints online about rubbish than some of the other sections. There were a couple of parking spots by the side of the road and fortunately one was free. We followed a short path that led to a stream that we traversed by stepping stones, followed by a dirt path that was cut into a hillside.

I was wondering if this was all we would see when the walls of the path suddenly rose up and became lined with rock rather than dirt. Walking through such deep and mysterious paths began to feel almost intimidating. I had no idea that pre-Roman European civilizations were capable of such impressive feats of engineering. I would have liked to continue exploring the roads for another couple of hours but I knew it would mean sacrificing one of the other towns I planned to visit that day so regretfully we turned back towards our car.

I had only scheduled one night in Pitigliano but we could easily have done two, spending a full day exploring the Via Cave and other nearby cliff towns such as Sovana. It would have also been nice to try one of the romantic restaurants I had spotted deep in the centro storico and spend more time in the galleries and gourmet stores. I certainly wouldn't rule out visiting the area again in the future. However we were on a tight schedule and it was now time for us to leave Tuscany and drive southwest to Vitorchiano, another cliff town in the northern part of the province of Lazio. Once we entered Lazio I had an acute sense of the end of the trip because we were back in Rome's own province for good. In Vitorchiano we were able to park for free just outside the entrance to the historic center. Like Pitigliano, this was once an Etruscan city that fell into the hands of the Romans. After the decline of the Roman Empire the city was taken over by the Lombards, followed by a local conquest by the larger nearby city of Viterbo, and then eventually fell back under the rule of Rome. Here there was a similar pattern to the other cities with the buildings closest to the entrance being refinished with plaster and fresh pain while those deeper inside maintained their antiquated stone appearance. The residents had the same love of greenery as those of the other medieval towns we had visited. An interesting feature of many houses was the presence of profferli, exterior staircases that lead to a second story entrance of the building. This architectural element likely reflects the influence of Viterbo, where the profferrli originated and were highly popular. It is thought that exterior staircases were used to avoid the loss of structural integrity of buildings that was created by the placement of interior staircases. Some of the profferli were quite elaborate with archways constructed underneath.

The most notable individual structure is the fifteenth century town hall constructed of tuff blocks that seem so closely packed that there isn't even space for mortar between them. The building seems to be continuous with the ancient fortifications. The clock tower was oddly decorated with two fluffy red and white mock-ups of hot air balloons that were suspended from the clock face, perhaps remnants of some recent festival.

The ridge on which Vitorchiano sits is composed of a variant of tuff called peperino that contains peppercorn-like inclusions of basalt and limestone. There were a couple of areas where we could look out along the side of the town and see some interesting features such as balconies and patios. Some of the homeowners were ingenious at making the most of their position perched atop a cliff with expansive views of the surrounding hills. We could see isolated houses atop some of the hillsides, some of which appeared to be quite large and luxurious.

As usual the best spot to appreciate the unique nature of the ancient quarter is from outside the town. We had an even better view from here than we had enjoyed in Pitigliano. It was clear why the town has been given the nickname of "Borgo Suspeso", or suspended village. The tightly clustered jumble of stone houses with misaligned windows projecting upward from the ridge seemed like the antithesis of the orderly uniformity of modern cities. The dense vegetation on the side of the cliff thrust upward like tentacles in an effort to consume the town but the brownish-grey walls resisted them resolutely. We stood watching this unmoving tableau for several minutes, trying to absorb every detail of this unique sight that was so quintessentially Italian.

An odd feature of the viewpoint is that it boasts a replica of an Easter Island moai. I might have ignored this completely as this sort of thing is seen fairly commonly as a cheesy advertisement in the United States, but I knew from prior research that the figure was carved by actual Rapa Nui who were visiting Italy to promote restoration of their own island's statues. The moai was carved using traditional axes from peperino which is similar to the native tuff of Easter Island, and it is considered to be the most authentic replica in the world.

We didn't have any luck finding a place to have lunch in Vitorchiano so we decided to press onward to our next destination, a somewhat larger town. We still had several stops to make on our last travel day in Italy but I didn't think any of them were likely to match the wonderful clifftop villages we had experienced in the last twenty-four hours.

This featured blog entry was written by zzlangerhans from the blog Fledgling Explorers.
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