Today we rode through southern Tuscany, a little bit of Lazio, and into Umbria. We visited four towns built upon isolated hills, natural fortresses defended by with sheer walls of rock.
First was Pitigliano, where we slept last night. It’s surrounded by a forested river valley. It seemed a nice place, with a lovely panoramic walkway along the walls.
Second was Sorana. It was also surrounded by a river ravine. The river makes a big turn like an oxbow, leaving this island of rock sticking up like a mesa. The only ways up are narrow steep paths, easy to defend. Towns like these could be besieged but not directly attacked. Here is the wall of the Masso Leopoldino, an inner keep, looking down to the rooftops of the town, and the forested ravine beyond. The perspective may be tricky to see but from the trees at the edge of the town wall to the trees in the ravine is a long way down. Sorana was cuter, with a quiet historic center. There were visitors like us but only Italians. This isn’t a widely known place yet. It’s overshadowed by its more famous cousins that we visited next.
After Sorana we rode to Bagnoregio, which is a major attraction and was quite busy. We probably saw a thousand people during our hour and a half visit. I didn’t notice big organized tour groups but maybe I just didn’t notice.
Bagnoregio is built on a mesa of rock in the middle of a larger valley. The valley floor is mostly scrub and badlands, with some very small fields and orchards. The only approach to the city is via an extremely steep path, now a modern bridge. Impregnable, but a pain to live there. It’s a dramatic location and beautiful to look at (you’ll find many postcard photos online) but there’s no “town” left. There are 11 residents left.
The last was Orvieto. This is a well known city along the autostrada and a standard tour stop. The cathedral is beautiful and would belong in a city ten times the size. No pictures from Orvieto except lunch: umbrichelli al pesto, pachino tomatoes, and funghi.
In the evening we stayed in an agriturismo outside Todi, a bonus city-upon-a-hill, visible in the distance.