Civita di Bagnoregio

Civita sits on a column of tufa above a valley of eroding clay, and the ground around it has been falling away for centuries: the road, the approach and much of the original village have gone into the ravine, and what is left is reached by a concrete footbridge built in 1965. It is called the dying town, which is accurate; the permanent population is in single figures. The village itself is a handful of stone lanes, an Etruscan gate, a small church and a great deal of view. The clay badlands around it, the calanchi, are eroding at a rate that the engineering works have slowed rather than stopped.

History

Civita was founded by the Etruscans more than 2,500 years ago and once had five city gates, of which only the Porta Santa Maria, or Porta Cava, is still used. Its only access is a footbridge from the nearby town, with a toll introduced in 2013 (Wikipedia, Civita di Bagnoregio).

What to look for

• The footbridge - the only way in, three hundred metres of concrete ramp.
• The calanchi - the eroding clay badlands around the pinnacle.
• The Etruscan gate - the original entrance cut through the rock.
• The lanes - the surviving fragment of the village.

When to go

April to June and September to October. Early morning and evening are when the light on the pinnacle works and the coach groups are absent. It takes half a day including the walk. Winter fog in the valley is atmospheric.

Before you go

The bridge is a steep three-hundred-metre climb with no shade and is hard work in heat. There is a toll to cross. The village takes forty minutes to walk and is now almost entirely restaurants and shops for visitors, with a handful of residents. Coach parties fill it through the middle of the day.

Nearby

Orvieto is half an hour north; Lake Bolsena is nearby.

Key facts