{{coord, 42, 40, 40, N, 11, 45, 25, E, display=title, type:landmark_region:IT Vitozza is a cave settlement located near the village of San Quirico in the municipality of

Sorano Sorano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Grosseto, in southern Tuscany, Italy. It is an ancient medieval hill town perched on a tuff outcrop overlooking the Lente River. History Sorano was probably inhabited by the Villanovan culture ...

, in the

province of Grosseto The province of Grosseto () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Grosseto. As of 2013 the province had a total population of 225,098 people. Geography The Province of Grosseto completely ...

, southern

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

(

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

), which was inhabited from

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *Etruscan civilization (1st millennium BC) and related things: **Etruscan language ** Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities **Etruscan coins **Etruscan history **Etruscan myt ...

times until the end of the 18th century.

History

The ancient city of Vitozza was built in the medieval era, most likely at the end of the 11th century, around a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

built by the

Aldobrandeschi family The Aldobrandeschi family was an Italian Nobility of Italy, noble family from southern Tuscany. Overview Of probable Lombards, Lombard origin, they appear in history as counts in the 9th century. The first known count was Hildebrand II (857). ...

within a cave settlement which was most likely already inhabited during

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times. In the first half of the 13th century, Vitozza passed temporarily under the control of

Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...

and then the Basque family, before being taken up again by the Aldobrandeschi and included into the territory of County of Sovana in 1274, the year of the division of family assets. Between the end of the 13th and the early 14th century, the place was conquered by the

Republic of Siena The Republic of Siena (, ) was a historic state consisting of the city of Siena and its surrounding territory in Tuscany, Central Italy. It existed for over 400 years, from 1125 to 1555. During its existence, it gradually expanded throughout south ...

under which it stayed until the middle of the 15th century. Subsequently, Vitozza became part of County Orsini, but later there was a move away from the castle and its defensive structures for reasons yet unknown, causing the decline of the settlement. The population gradually migrated towards the nearby town of San Quirico, however, Vitozza was inhabited until the end of the 18th century.

Archaeological Area

In the

Middle Age Middle age (or middle adulthood) is the age range of the years halfway between childhood and old age. The exact range is subject to public debate, but the term is commonly used to denote the age range from 45 to 65 years. Overall This time span ...

s, Vitozza had a fortified castle, at least two fortresses, and places of worship including a major and two minor

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

es, in addition to the cave settlement.

Settlement

The cave settlement of Vitozza is certainly the largest and most important of central Italy. It includes over two hundred

caves Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock ...

excavated from the local tuff stone. The caves used for human habitation extend along a path through the woods overlooking the valley of the river Lente. Some are quite close to each other, while others tend to be more isolated. Depending on their type, caves can in fact be classified in four different types: The first group is characterized by tunnels with rectangular openings which are often on different levels, connected by ladders and steps, with houses located on the upper levels and animal shelters in the lower ones. A second group of caves presents rectangular structures destined to house the animals. A third type of caves was for mixed use - they are characterized by an arched opening, a circular area and attached rooms. The circular part, for animal use, was equipped with a feeder, the other rooms were probably used for habitation. The northwestern part of Vitozza includes a group of dozens of caves known as ''columbaria'' which almost certainly were created in

times and remained active throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

for the purpose of pigeon breeding, a common practice in the territory of

Fortresses

The ''primo castello'' (first castle) is a fortification located along the path that runs through the entire rock settlement. The fortification is the first of two elevated fortifications or '' rocche'' shaping the castle ruins of medieval Vitozza. The structure shows thick walls of blocks of

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

, which would take up a door that opened along the access route. The remains of the fortress are visible on both sides of the path that forks just before. On the north side, the building was surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, now rendered invisible by vegetation, which further protected the defensive structure. The ''secondo castello'' (second castle) is a fortified structure located along the path leading to the ''columbaria'' (caves used for rearing poultry) and the source of the river Lente. It is situated on a hill which rises to the right of the path, and is better preserved than the first fortress.

Chiesaccia

The ruins of a church dating back to the Middle Ages, called ''The Chiesaccia'', is situated to the right of the main path near the ''primo castello''. It has a simple rectangular floor plan and a semicircular

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. On the northern side of the plateau near the church are the ruins of another defensive building, as well as the remains of a gate that controlled access through the road parallel to the ridge.

References

* Giuseppe Guerrini (Ed). ''Torri e Castelli della provincia di Grosseto'' (Amministrazione Provinciale di Grosseto). Siena, Nuova Immagine Editrice, 1999. * Carlo Citter. ''Guida agli edifici sacri della Maremma''. Siena, Nuova Immagine Editrice, 2002.

External links

"City of Tuff" Archaeological Park: Medieval Rupestrian Town of Vitozza

Parco degli Etrusci: Rupestrian settlement of Vitozza (Sorano)
History of Tuscany Archaeological sites in Tuscany Sorano