Civita di Bagnoregio- Medieval Cliff Village and Vitorchiano both in Lazio, Italy

Civita di Bagnoregio is a bit surreal looking but so beautiful to look at.

Citiva di Bagnoregio was an amazing medieval village on a hill built for defensive positioning and it was founded by the Etruscans 2500 years ago as a strategic position as a vital trade route between the Tiber River and Lake Bolsonaro . The Etruscans were Pre-Roman and there are indications of both in the architecture of this village. This village is considered one of the most beautiful in Italy. I couldn't argue that point, it was extremely beautiful.

Poster to look at near the ticket booth.

The rock outcropping that the town sits on has been eroding and the original road up to the village has worn away. They have built a long walking bridge which is the only way get to the village. The cost is 5 Euro per person to enter the bridge zone to walk up to the village.

A closer shot of Civita. You can see the lone person on the bridge to give you some perspective.

Steep walking bridge up to Civita.

When you first see Civita it takes your breath away, because the view is incredible. There is a large parking lot and Darren parked for free and stayed in the car, he is not interested in 'old rocks,' he says.

You walk for a ways and then down some stairs which takes you to the ticket booth. You begin walking up your steep incline up to the town. It was really good exercise up the walking bridge. You walk into town and it's just oozing with charm throughout the whole village.

Gate into Civita

Beautiful Civita with original cobblestones streets and buildings.

Beautiful architecture.

Old worn stone steps.

You make your way quite quickly into the area where the church is and then you just explore every little street, nook and cranny.

Have you ever seen such a gorgeous authentic medieval street?

So charming with clay tiles on every roof.

I love me a good arch!

For hundreds of years this old door has been used and forgotten.

The lovely Fall colors of October in Civita.

Gorgeous Climbing Ivy

We saw Pomegranate trees and Persimmon trees growing in the various small yards that we peaked our noses into to get a good look at.

Persimmons Tree which I have never tasted before.

Most of the homes are for rent now, not many people live in the houses anymore. We felt free to walk around and of course we would stop when the sign stated 'private entry'.

There was an sign advertising Antica Civitas that we noticed. I jokingly said if the entry fee is 1 Euro then lets do it.

We saw this little sign and made the decision to seek out the Museum.

We headed down the tiny street towards this little museum to which promised Subterranean Etruscan Caves with Panoramic Views of the Valley of Calanchi. When we asked the little old Italian Man how much the entry was, he replied 1 Euro. We laughed and paid our 1 Euro to enter. It was possibly one of the coolest things we did in the town.

Little Italian Man that we paid our 1 Euro to. He is seated in the Museum/former house of Olive Oil pressers. Notice the ancient beams above.

The cave system was a historical legit home that was thousands of years old and had been continuously lived in for most of that time. It contained a bedroom and kitchen of sorts but also their business of grinding olives for oil. The place was mind blowing to think that early Etruscans lived and worked here.

Olive Oil press which is missing the grinding stone. These stairs were added to accommodate the museum people, but originally the donkey would walk around the large carved out stone pulling the grinding stone.

Their donkey would pull the large rock that rolled over the olives which squeezed the oil out and it drained out of the large hand hewn rock grind.

Oil casks in the Museum.

This was a holding barrel for the oil.

Stunning 24" intact oil jar.

The views were equally as interesting.

Room with a view. Stones are missing from this window frame.

This was one view out of one of the windows of the museum/home.

All of the original pails furniture and a collection of things was incredibly interesting. It was well worth the 1 Euro.

Very large ancient oil or wine jar.

We chose a restaurant based on two things: price and whether the pasta choices appealed to us or not. The place that we did choose had most likely the rudest waitress in Italy. She was so rude that it was actually quite comical and we were cracking jokes with each other the whole time. The pasta that we ordered was good. The wine was good and we had a good laugh. Unfortunately it started to rain at that time and and the wind picked up and it became quite horrible walking back down the bridge towards the parking. It was a bit nerve-racking on the bridge, the winds were incredibly high.

Picture taken during the rain once the wind had settled down.

We made it back safely and we had to pay a euro to use the washroom. This is a normal thing in Europe.

While we were up in Civita, we did a bit of shopping as we dashed into different store fronts to avoid the rain. All of these places were quite quaint as little cave holes that contained the shopping stores. Lisa bought herself a collectible bottle cap opener and I spotted Grappa sampling. Grappa is a traditional Italian Brandy made from grape pomace which is the skins, pulp, seeds and stems that are left over after pressing the grapes for wine-making. Grappa is a throat burner for sure. I would never drink this again by choice, it is 40-60% proof alcohol.

Lisa entering the store through the tiny doorway which she had to duck to get in. This store had the Grappa sampling

Cute little store in an ancient building.

There are quite a few cats and kittens wandering around the area and they look like they are being fed and well cared for.

Many cats and kittens live in the 'Dying City'

Someone is feeding the stray cats, with all of their bowls lined up.

Not very many people still live in Civita anymore. It is actually called the 'Dying City' due to its precarious location on a tufa rock formation that is constantly eroding. The old people are moving out and buying homes in the other half of this town called Bagnoregio. The younger people have already moved out. The restaurant owners catering to the tourist groups that come into the town and the renters are and still will be there until the whole town collapses with age and erosion.

How pretty is this?

This was my absolute favorite house in Civita.

This is now an Inn but was once a home growing up a house.

Despite its nickname the town is remarkably well-preserved and is a popular day trip for Italians. It's a place that feels frozen in time. The town was not riddled with tourists but there were quite a few compared to our little village experience yesterday.

I highly recommend experiencing this town, it is very unique, isolated and absolutely wonderful.

Vitorchiano

We still had some time and we would be driving past Vitorchiano which was on our list. We decided to take advantage of the opportunity and visit this cool little walled town. Darren dropped us off at the front gate.

Main gate of Vitorchiano. Unfortunately it was still stormy out and dark outside which left the photos quite dark.

Super nice original stone gate.

There was a large WWII memorial fountain near the gate entrance. We snapped a few pics and walked into the ancient medieval village.

WWII War memorial fountain.

Outside wall of Vitorchiano.

We had been so overwhelmed with the beauty of Civita di Bagnoregio and we were tired therefore we did not really give Vitorchiano its due. We walked around the town for approximately 45 minutes. It was pretty but somewhat underwhelming after Civita di Bagnoregio. My recommendation would be to explore Vitorchiano first and give it its due.