It rises in the heart of the Etruscan culture a "charming lady" capable of moving thousands of tourists. Eternally young if we think that his appearance has remained the same for centuries. Old if we look at it with the eyes of modernity. It is Civita di Bagnoregio, in the province of Viterbo. A surreal village capable of guiding us on an evocative journey between history and nature.
A timeless charm
Daughter of the Valley of the Badlands, of an environment so particular that we believe that it is an extraterrestrial reality. Civita di Bagnoregio appears to be resting on a hill at a height of 443 meters. An unstable, almost friable relief, continuously subject to landslides. Here because to get to the ancient village it is necessary to cross a bridge that bravely crosses the chasm below. A pedestrian connection suitable for those who do not suffer from vertigo and which is currently the only way to reach the place.
All around opens up a panorama worthy of the best fantasy films. A rocky landscape dominated by shades of brown. It's shades of a barren land that, here and there, gives way to green tufts. Shrubs and bushes that try to animate un a place that has been dozing for centuries, preserving, as in a dream, its immortal beauty. And if this outfit certainly fascinates us then maybe we will be surprised to know the nickname given to such a seductive place. "The country that dies". A pseudonym not the kindest nor the most captivating. Yet crowds of curious visitors arrive here every year.
Guardian of the Etruscan civilization
Daughter of a mysterious people which conquered several territories of our central Italy. They were the Etruscan. Here they left the oldest traces of the history of Civita di Bagnoregio. Examples are the numerous tombs that go to constitute real necropolis. Like the cave of Bonaventure, where it is said that Saint Francis he would have restored Giovanni Fidanza then became San Bonaventura.
The works engineering of Civita di Bagnoregio
What is told in the form of a cave was actually a chamber tomb dating back to the Etruscan period. The village then became Roman. These ancient peoples worked to limit the problems of instability that had already arisen at that time. Una Seismic zone, subject to landslides and erosions. That is why, the Etruscans first and the Romans later engaged in engineering works: canals and embankments. The fall of the Roman Empire initially led to the loss of the knowledge of the "greats of the past" and so this place ended up abandoned to itself. Then the Middle Ages and the new enhancement. Today what remains are the productions of this last period. The gothic houses, the church of San Donato, the remains of Bonaventure's birthplace.
But also the door of Santa Maria, one of the gates of the ancient walls. Topped by two lions forcing a human head under the paw. A symbol of strength aimed at denying submission to the Monaldeschi family. The memory of a battle of the people represented on the old gateway to the village. There are also traces of a "closer" age. The Renaissance, identifiable in the sixteenth-century mill. Today it is possible to breathe an air that tastes of ancient. The weight of past history carried with dignity on the shoulders of this old village. An almost uninhabited place but which preserves the right qualities that make it loved. It will not be a coincidence if in 2017, 850 visitors felt the call of the fascinating dying country.
