Pitigliano Historic Town – Via Cava di San Giuseppe loop from Sovana

Hiking trails & Routes

Pitigliano Historic Town – Via Cava di San Giuseppe loop from Sovana

Moderate

4.6

(48)

163

hikers

Pitigliano Historic Town – Via Cava di San Giuseppe loop from Sovana

04:28

15.6km

350m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily walkable paths. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: September 26, 2026

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

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626 m

Via Cava e necropoli di San Sebastiano

Forest

4.54 km

Via Cava dell'Annunziata

Highlight • Trail

Is cut deeply into the underlying volcanic rock, excavated in ancient times and used as an alternative route to the Via Cava San Giuseppe, which connects the towns of Pitigliano and Sov.ana.

Along the path, in addition to countless botanical species, you can also observe an underground columbarium. Inside, the many niches in the walls were used to keep pigeons for breeding purposes during the Renaissance

At the top of the path, which winds through the vegetation, there is a shrine dedicated to SS. Annunziata. The structure is crowned by a simple profile lintel, in them you can still draw traces of overlapping religious images. From the artificial terrace to the left of the altar you can observe an ancient hermitage (16th century).

In the seventeenth century the care of the Via Cava was organized by the Confraternity of SS. Sacramento Pitigliano, which in addition to keeping the Via Cava itself in charge, held religious ceremonies related to the equinox on March 25, the day dedicated to the Annunciation and the beginning of the liturgical cycle.

The traditional celebration includes young people lighting small fires along the path and starting the procession to the church of S.

Mary now to the church of S. Rocco in Pitigliano.

In 1785, due to the "instability of the religious structure", the Confraternity abandoned the care of the Via Cava and the procession, but the ancient path remains today and is a popular route used by many tourists and trekking enthusiasts.

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6.66 km

Pitigliano Entrance Gate

Highlight • Monument

Pitigliano is always worth a trip. Both the upper path and the lower path into the city are a pleasure. The small narrow streets invite you to explore and the small shops to shop.

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6.82 km

Pitigliano Historic Town

Highlight • Settlement

beautiful old town with winding streets.
The hollow paths start already below the gate via Porta di Sovana.
Above the paths you have to follow the little traffic road for about 1 km, but you will be rewarded with a view of the city.
The paths can become smooth after rainy weather.

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7.17 km

Chiesa di San Rocco, Pitigliano

Highlight • Religious Site

7.22 km

Via Porta di Savona Staircase, Pitigliano Old Town

Highlight (Segment) • Historical Site

From the slope, which runs around the old town of Pitigliano below the tuff massif, a longer staircase of stone steps (Via Porta di Savona) leads in arches in the north-west corner up to the old town gate, through which you can reach the old town of Pitigliano, which is well worth seeing. From the stairs there are interesting views of the houses on the north slope. Another access via a long stairway (Via dei Lavatoi) is located "opposite" in the southeast on this slope as another HL.

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8.08 km

Via Cava di San Giuseppe

Highlight • Gorge

8.20 km

Via Cava di San Giuseppe

Highlight (Segment) • Trail

The Vie Cave, sometimes also called Cavoni, form a suggestive road system from the Etruscan era that connects various settlements and necropolises between Pitigliano, Sovana and Sorano. They mainly develop between steep tuff rock walls, some of which exceed twenty meters in height. In Roman times, these streets became part of a road network connected to the main trunk of the Via Clodia, an ancient road that connected Rome to Saturnia, passing through the city of Tuscania and branching off from the Via Cassia in Lazio.

The Via Cava di San Giuseppe is one of the most evocative in the area, as well as the longest, leading up to Pitigliano. This street is associated with the traditional torchlight procession of San Giuseppe, which is held on March 19th. The link between ancient pagan rites and the dark atmosphere along the route, which still persists today, dates back to Christian times, when small niches with painted sacred images, known as "devil chasers", were dug to protect travellers.

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8.87 km

Edicola di San Giuseppe

Highlight • Religious Site

If you don't know, you almost overlook the Edicola di San Giuseppe :)

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14.0 km

Colombari

Archaeological Site

15.6 km

End point

Parking

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

6.73 km

3.79 km

3.63 km

1.47 km

< 100 m

Surfaces

6.81 km

3.76 km

3.41 km

917 m

743 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (310 m)

Lowest point (210 m)

Weather

Monday 2 November

16°C

9°C

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Comments

September 22, 2024,🇮🇹 Ertruskerrinnen zwischen Pitigliano und Sovana

Today we walked like donkeys over the Etruscan gullies.

Another discovery: wild boar mortadella with truffles is very tasty in the Maremma.

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August 1, 2024,Wanderung durch die Hohlwege nach Sovana

Today we went via various Vie Cave from Pitigliano to little Sovana...

I hadn't "on my radar" these sunken paths in my previous Tuscany holidays -
And that's despite the fact that I always become an Etruscan junkie here ;-)

Fascinating culture that seemed to seamlessly transition into the Roman culture and about which little is known and researched.

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