Scary Statues and Mysterious Figures

pathway from Vitorchiano

Tuscia (or Etruria) located one hour north of Rome and a half hour from Civitavecchia port makes a perfect escape from the  tourist crowds. We residents enjoy a laid back lifestyle, excellent food and wine as well as peace, calm and the many off beat places such as the well known Sacro Bosco or Monster Park of Bomarzo.

Nearby are several other sites with strange stone sculptures, fountains and  the remains of elegant gardens-often hidden away in the underbrush or valleys. 

Photos by F. Micheletti 

stone heads Vitorchiano 

rock hewn cave in the Vitorchiano valley

Just beneath the town of Vitorchiano a steep trail zig-zags down into a verdant valley.

Trekking with CAI excursion to see the sculptures near Vitorchiano                 Thanks to F. Micheletti for photos 

 Here trekkers literally trip over the  mysterious monumental sculptures created in 1990 by a team of stone carvers who were invited to Vitorchiano from Easter Island, far away in the Pacific Ocean. 

Easter Island  head in Vitorchiano

Other weird and wonderful stone figures date back to the Renaissance and 16th century and were created by native sculptors (or captive Turkish ones??)  to awe visitors of local nobility, such as these in a wild setting just outside the town of Viterbo. 

moss covered fountain with   human heads spouts 

female figure, near Viterbo

Papacqua fountain figure, Soriano

In plain sight in the town of Soriano nel Cimino is the Papacqua fountain next to Palazzo Chigi-Albani and its many intriguing  stone figures which art critics have been trying to interpret for centuries.

Papacqua fountain in Soriano nel Cimino 

These scary statues are just a few of the many fascinating, little known aspects of the Tuscia area  that await visitors, especially  artists, anthropologists and those who enjoy the unusual. 

For more about these and other  mysterious sites of central Italy, between Tuscany and Umbria, check out my website, use the search bar of the blog and read my latest two books on the area.

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Tuscania's Top Five Sites

San Giusto Abbey, Tuscania  (foto G. Bellucci)

Majestic stone  towers, churches, castles  and  a newly rediscovered abbey are among the top sites  to visit in Tuscania, a  small  city nestled among the rolling hills  and a verdant valley that D.H. Lawrence called the most beautiful in Italy.

Unfortunately we do not know what the  Etruscans called this settlement, but when the Romans  arrived they gave it the name  Tuscana. For a few centuries known as Toscanella,  and now    Tuscania,  it  may be only a pin point on the map between the  seaside town of Tarquinia and the provincial capital,Viterbo, but it has its share of magnificent architecture and  monuments.

Castle of Rocca Respampini (foto A.Cecchini)

 The first  site  not to be missed  is the huge, abandoned castle of Rocca Respampini, which can be seen in the distance, along the scenic Via Vetrallese, half way between Vetralla and Tuscania.

Rivellino, the original settlement of Tuscania, is  a  windy hilltop  crowned  with towers and the monumental  church of San Pietro with its intact Cosmatesque pavements.  Unfortunately photos are not allowed inside these monuments, so you'll have to take my word for it: they are magnificent.

towers near San Pietro ...

...and  main entrance 

 A series of dusty  black and white  photos on view inside the church  remind us of the destruction wrought to this building, and the entire town, during  the February, 1971 earthquake.

 facade and rose window of  S. Maria Maggiore

The complex of S. Maria Maggiore,  at the base of the hill,   merits a close look for its  magnificent façade as well as the  interior  where Etruscan sarcophagi  are lined up  along the nave.  Just a few steps away you will find the remains of a Roman thermal bath on the side of  the road.

S. Maria Maggiore (foto G. Bellucci) 

The town fathers of Tuscania   have intelligently left a stretch of the original Roman  road, the Via Clodia,  visible  in the center of the town, on the way to the former church of San Francesco where  a school for  chefs, the Boscolo Etoile Academy, is  now installed.

San Giusto (foto G. Bellucci) 

The  recently restored Abbey of San Giusto, located a  few kilometers  out of town in the Marta river valley was a completely invisible ruin for over 500  years until purchased and restored by a private owner from Bologna. Now returned to its original splendor it is another of the many special places to visit in Tuscania.

peperino stone fountain  

These are only a sample of the  itineraries and special places to visit in central Italy. Take a look at my website for  indepth articles and for more on the mysterious sites of Northern Lazio  see my latest book. 

Mysterious Underground Sites near Rome

Italian towns  hide some of the most mysterious sites 

 Hill towns in central Italian are like icebergs: beneath  the  bell towers,  rooftops and cobble stone streets there   are often  several other layers, including  subterranean passageways and sacred places  dating from Etruscan and Roman times.

Some are easy to visit, like the dark, underground crypt of San Francesco church  in Vetralla  where  an ancient rite, known as the sepolchri, takes place  every Easter time.  You can read more about it  here.

sepolchri  in the crypt of San Francesco,Vetralla

only a broken tower remains of the Castello DiVico

The gardens surrounding the remains of DiVico castle  on the southern  side of Vetralla   have not been touched since the bombings by Allied  forces in January 1944. 

abandoned  gateway to the  former  gardens

Older people of the town remember the  secret passageways that connected  the center of town to the countryside. During the bombings, families escaped through them to the safety of  grottos that can still be seen nearby.     

 mounds of earth  hide the scars of the war

Other towns in the Etruria/Tuscia area  have  recuperated  their ancient passageways and opened them to the public.

In Vignanello, volunteer speologists have opened  and cleaned a series of  ancient drainage passages, dating from Etruscan times,  located beneath  the  town's streets  and  the Duomo. During guided visits one can walk through these tunnels and see where the town nobility were buried .   Check out  the video of the connutti for a first hand look. 

Perugia recently opened  an underground tour which includes a  walk on Roman roads and a visit  to a WWII bomb shelter. 


  Underground Orvieto is a fascinating  tour for those who have already admired the majestic Duomo and historic center.

Read  more  on their website Orvieto  Underground

 The  city of Orte-the ancient Hortae-is perched on a tufa outcrop overlooking the Tiber valley.  Intimately connected to the town by underground passages is a spectacular nympheum and  many  grottos excavated in the tufa rock.  

Nympheum of Orte

Used throughout antique times and the Middle Ages as water cisterns, irrigation tunnels and passageways,  there was also a splendid moment during the Renaissance when a nearby monastery used these cisterns as a swimming pool and  spa for its  worldly resident nuns. 

 The arched rooms were used as bomb shelters during World War II  and,  during earlier centuries, as a place to breed pigeons.  

pigeon  breeding  room

 You will find more information  about  these and other mysterious sites  in central Italy in 

"Etruria-travel, history and itineraries in Central Italy" . 

 Cocciopesto  is the latest addition to the subterranean passageways   of  Orte and new itineraries are  discovered in Italy   each year.

 Do you have a favorite underground place to share with other readers?   

                                         Many thanks to Luca Riccardi of Orte  for his photos.