That descent could mean only one thing: a very steep climb up again, until it levels out and passes through another via cava, eventually reaching another valley floor and a narrow mud track through forest, leading, after about 4km to the archaeological park at Sutri. Beware, however, some parts of this path were distinctly hairy, and in wet weather it is likely to be very muddy.
Hazards apart, it winds beside a brook and on the last day of April, was lined with swathes of yellow ranunculus.
Just before reaching the park, you get one of the best views of Sutri, the photo at the start of today's post.
The park itself is stuffed with Etruscan tombs, a temple to Mithras-turned-church,
which you can visit, and a crumbling, picturesque probably pre-Roman amphitheatre.
Pilgrims get a decent discount for entry to these, and it's definitely worth a linger if the weather is good. Sadly it had just started to rain as I was there, so I plodded up to my digs for a much-needed shower and siesta.
Presumably the doors in the cliff are the Etruscan tombs? Looks an amazing place.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what the doors are. I'm assuming someone once lived there, in what may have once been tombs, but I fear the rain rather discouraged too much investigation. There are tombs a bit further on, but you can only see those from the road, I think. Sorry, not much use as a guide book, really!
DeleteHi Beth, just catching up with your journey and wishing you well in these last couple of days
ReplyDeleteAs they say in Welsh ‘dal ati’ (I think) KEEP AT IT!! All good wishes 👍😊🌈
That was me above!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny! Great to hear from you and to have the encouragement. Nearly there...
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