Today I will tell you about Pitigliano, a village merged in the Tuscan Maremma’s nature
Welcome traveller, today I will talk to you about Pitigliano, a village buried in the Tuscan Maremma’s nature
We are the Vie Cave; immense canyons dug into the tuff rock by human hands.
within us still echoes the steps of those who, for thousands of years, walked into us.
Our history begins a long time ago, over 3000 years, together with the Rasna, the Etruscan people who decided to lay the foundations of their civilization here, fascinated by this land and its richness.
We have been sculpted, excavated, molded and chiseled by infinite hands and with infinite techniques and only the rock that composes us, the tuff, has made it possible.
This rock which was formed by volcanic activities prior to the birth of humanity itself is what guarantees cities like Pitigliano to still stand out today, resting on plateaus and defying gravity.
Why were we dug up?
Unfortunately, this knowledge has been lost together with those who first created us, yet there are those who maintain that we were shortcuts to access the crops of the plateaus above and a main communication route to connect the different cities of the Etruscan world.
Someone else claims instead that we are sacred paths with built in order to connect the cities of the living to those of the dead; the Necropolis.
Whatever the answer, dear traveller, even though over thousands of years we have been used for different purposes we have always granted passage to those who asked us in the right way.
As you walk along it, keep all your senses open and observe us carefully, because in every corner you might be able to spot the presence of those who came before you.
If you will look carefully…
you will be able to see graffiti dating back to the time of the Rasna, then confusing with medieval crosses carved by the hermits who found refuge among these stones. You might even by able to spot the writings left by those who walked here during the last world war in search for shelter and salvation.
We are many, oh traveller, and once upon a time we were even more.
Those of us who have survived are those who have been supported by farmers, woodcutters and all those who have crossed us and took care of us. Remember that until the beginning of the 20th century we were the only alternative to connect the different countries of this harsh and beautiful land.
Each of us is unique just as the beings that walk through us are unique and we have existed since time immemorial around the villages of Pitigliano, Sovana and Sorano.
