Camera Etrusca Photography Holidays & Workshops in Europe

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube
  • RSS
  • Home
  • About
    • Testimonials
  • Location
    • Tuscany & Umbria Landscapes
    • Accommodation
    • Wining and Dining
  • Photo Tours and Workshops
    • Exclusive Photo Tours and Guided Tours
    • Master Class
    • Typical Tuscan Photo Tour
    • Rome Photo Tours
    • Venice Photo Tours
  • Dates and Prices
  • FAQ
    • What to Bring
  • Contact
  • Blog

Pitigliano, Sorano & Sovana,The Sacred Ways

Posted on 2 June 2012 by patnicholas in ETRUSCAN PLACES, Pitigliano, Sorano & Sovana, The Sacred Ways No Comments
Sorano Via Cava, Sacred Way

The mysterious Etruscan Sacred Ways are exclusive to three southern Tuscan towns: Pitigliano, Sovana and Sorano. Some are very deep, up to an astonishing 20m, hewn out of solid rock by the Etruscans about 2500 years ago, and some paths are very long indeed; all of them are winding and twisting like the above. Why were they excavated? Why only in this area? Nobody knows.

via Cava San Rocco, Sorano

Sacred Way from above

 

They are not strictly roads as they don’t lead anywhere, most of them meandering around apparently aimlessly. Were they used for mysterious chthonic rites? Quite possibly. What we see now is a shadow of their former selves. All of the ways have collapsed at least in part as tree roots have undermined the steep sides, so that they are much wider and shallower now.

 

Also they would once have curved in at the top, the two walls almost meeting and thus letting in very little light to the path below. It must have been a very eerie during the day, even more so at night. The Etruscans are a very mysterious people. They spoke a non Indo-European language, their language has only been partly deciphered and anyway their literature is almost completely lost.

Sorano sacred way, killer roots

killer roots

But the Sacred Ways are dying…. of neglect. Tree roots are the worst enemy.They split the walls and a huge wedge of cliff falls down into the ravine. Until about 50 years ago the farmers used these ways to reach their fields, they maintained them and cut down the trees. Now the land is abandoned and the municipality does nothing to maintain these treasures that have survived 2,500 years only to die of neglect in our lifetime.

Technical notes: the  top photo was taken with Canon 5D, 18mm lens on panoramic tripod and four pictures were stiched together using PS5 photomerge

Related posts:

Poggio Conte Eremo san ColombaPoggio Conte – Part 1, The Sacred Glade Pitigliano Jewish cemeteryPitigliano Little Jerusalem

Powered by YARPP.

cia cava, etruscan, Etruscan sacred way, Pitigliano, Sorano, Tuscany, via Cava san Rocco

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search

contact: Patrick Nicholas

  • +39 347 2752630
  • info@cameraetrusca.com
  • Contact Us
    • Facebook
    • Google+
    • Vimeo
    • YouTube
    • Pinterest
    • Linkedin

Categories

  • Endangered (1)
  • ETRUSCAN PLACES (20)
    • Civita Bagnoregio (1)
    • Lake Bolsena (2)
    • Pitigliano (2)
    • Pitigliano Little Jerusalem (1)
    • Sorano & Sovana (1)
    • The Sacred Ways (1)
    • Vulci (2)
  • Festivals in Tuscia (1)
  • GETTING ABOUT (3)
    • new Discovery for Camera Etrusca (1)
  • ITALIAN WAY OF LIFE (4)
    • Orvieto Olive Oil (1)
  • Landscape Photography (1)
  • LOST SITES (12)
  • PHOTO WORKSHOPS and PHOTO TOURS in BOHEMIA (1)
  • PHOTO WORKSHOPS and PHOTO TOURS in ITALY (18)
  • PHOTO WORKSHOPS and PHOTO TOURS in PORTUGAL (1)
  • PHOTOGRAPHY KIT, tips and accessories (7)
    • filters in the digital age (1)
    • instant smoke (1)
    • is film dead? (1)
    • what digital camera? (1)
  • Picturesque (1)
  • POST PRODUCTION (2)
    • making photo books (1)
    • Showing Off (1)
  • Rome (4)
  • Uncategorized (1)

Recent Post

  • Radicofani and the Grand Tour – Part 2 2 July 2020
  • Old Transparencies 16 November 2018
  • Fixing a stuck zoom and sensor cleaning 27 July 2018
  • Photo Workshops in Lisbon and the Coast. Start dates: May 25 and November 2. 12 March 2018
  • Winter Photo Workshop in Bohemia, Part 1 23 February 2018

Related Posts

  1. Poggio Conte – Part 1, The Sacred Glade
  2. Pitigliano Little Jerusalem

Photo Workshops, Photo Tours and Learning Holidays

  • cypress grove on via Cassia Tuscany
  • Flying Devil carries prostitute
  • Patrick Nicholas ruins Castro
  • Cahen_Tomb
  • Castelluccio_Norcia.wild_flowers.PatrickNicholas.-0960
  • Radicofani
  • Vatican.roof.saints.PatrickNicholas.-6965
  • corpus_domini_orvieto.PatrickNicholas
  • S.Lorenzo.vecchio_LakeBolsena

Camera Etrusca --- Corso Cavour, 176 05018 Orvieto - Umbria , IT
p.iva (VAT) 01815061203

Click here to call my mobile: +39 3472 752630

Please click here to send a text message to my mobile, if you can’t get through.

email: info [at] cameraetrusca.com

©2020 Camera Etrusca - Photo Workshops - Patrick Nicholas Photographer