Pitigliano

The most scenic way to reach Pitigliano is perhaps by means of the picturesque street from the town, Farnese, in Lazio, at the margins of Selva del Lampone crossing an intact countryside. The street proceeds among curves and ups and downs into a spectacular example of "Etruscan landscape" characterized by profound gorges, steep mounds, and wooded valleys, refined by olive groves, vineyards, and cultivated fields; a landscape with a rough unusual and arcane appearance. Having surpassed a small, modern suburb, the old town then suddenly appears, magnificent, immersed in vegetation and extended along a cliff on a tufaceous ridge, placed at the dominion of three rivers (Lente, Meleta, and Procchio), with a strong chromatic contrast between the reddish houses, from which turrets and belltowers stand out, and the oak woods of the surrounding hills, very green in springtime and summer; red, yellow, and orange in autumn; brown and bare in winter.

In the Etruscan era, Pitigliano was one of the most important centers of the zone, as is evidenced in the various surrounding necropolises while in the Roman era only some hollows remained underneath the town, with niches for cremation urns. In the Early Middle Ages, the city fell under the power of the Lombardic family, the Aldobrandeschi, who had it until the 1312, the year in which the Orsini family took over, then finishing in the hands of the Medici family until the beginning of the 1600's. Because of the evidence of the Jewish culture, recognizable in the Ghetto and in the Jewish Cemetery (16th century), Pitigliano is also known as the "Little Jerusalem of Italy". In fact, during the 15th century, a Florentine Jewish community settled here and still survives today. Within the Ghetto, accessible by Via Zuccarelli, you can visit the Synagogue, located near the Duomo, and the "Forno delle Azzime" (or Kosher Bakery).

The monumental Palazzo Orsini overlooks the historic center, to the side of the many other solemn arches of the 16th-century Medicean acquaduct and at whose feet opens "Bosco Sacro" (Sacred Woods) of the Orsini family, with diverse sculptures carved into the rock. The fortress, which is located in Piazza della Rebubblica and which makes up the most representative monument of Pitgliano, presents an interesting union between Renaissance and medieval buildings, and here you will clearly recognize the 16th-century interventions of Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane.

In Piazza San Gregorio, you will find the Duomo of Saints Peter and Paul, dating back to the 15th century but restructured between the 16th and 18th centuries with a Baroque façade and paintings by Pietro Also. Almost at the extremities of the historic center, we can admire the San Rocco Church, the oldest sacred building of Pitigliano, dating back to 1274. It has a curious trapezoidal shape and stands out for its elegant and slender travertine columns. To be mentioned are also Porta di Sovana, in front of which are visible ruins of the Etruscan wall, and the Town Hall, where there is the entrance to the lovely Museum of Popular Traditions, linked with cooking, agriculture, and wine-making: from here you can reach an attractive underground path leading to the foundation of the castle, by means of a long passageway cut into the tufo. 

The major attraction of Pitigliano, however, is probably its outskirts, very rich in Etruscan and medieval remnants. In the important Necropolises of Poggio Buco, located approximately 8 km from Pitigliano, there are notable varieties of tombs in "rooms" from the 7th to 6th centuries B.C. The monumental necropolises are evidence of the greatness of one of the most powerful and oldest cities of the Fiora River valley and which some scholars have identified in the mythical Statonia. After Poggio Buco, it is recommended visiting the 15th-century Sanctuary of Madonna delle Grazie, from which you can enjoy an excellent view of Pitigliano, and then - if time allows - other places of great interest including the Early Christian rupestrian "tempietto" (with inscriptions dating back to 397), the ruins of the Roccaccia and Morranaccio castles, the hot springs of the Orientina Valley, from which the water flows at 37° C, and last but not least the many "vie cave", ancient Etruscan streets dug out of tufo, a true peculiarity of the zone.