 Sovana
to Arcidosso (46 kms)Good nights
sleep. A lovely quiet hotel (and town!). Lovely blue sky and sunshine.
Went down the street to a grocery shop which actually seemed to sell just about anything
you'd ever want, and had some pannini's made to order for the trip. After taking a
couple of photo's we rolled off down the hill through a small tunnel cut into the tufa.
We hadn't gone far when we came across a chap sitting at the side
of the road under a sun umbrella, with a table of books in front of him. Being
curious, we stopped to see what it was about, and it's the best thing we did. He was
selling tickets to the entrance to a walk which took you past many Etruscan tombs and caves. We bought the ticket and
after asking him if he wouldn't mind keeping an eye on the bikes, we headed off down the
path and into the woods. After about 500 metres, we saw the first tomb. These
things are stunning. dating from around 7th to 8th century BC, they're carved out
of the rock. Some of them you can enter, though they're a bit of a scramble, and a
torch would be handy. The highlight for me though were the Etruscan 'roads'. They are narrow, and run between
towering walls of tufa. Apparently the area around Sovana
is riddled with them. After a good hour wandering around, and ending up with a visit
to the Cava di San Sebastiano, we headed back to the bikes and pressed on.
We'd only 'pressed on' for about 500 metres, when
there was another diversion, the Tomba Ildebranda -
the most important Etruscan temple tomb in all Etruria. The ticket we'd purchased
previously also allowed us access to this site too. I don't recall the cost, but it
was about L5,000 I think. Excellent value. The tomb was discovered in
the 1920's and named Ildebranda in honour of Pope Gregory VII (Ildebranda da
Sovana). The whole thing is amazing. The entire structure was created by
cutting and chiselling enormous volumes of rock, to reproduce an Etruscan temple of the
Hellenic period (3rd Century BC). Originally, it would have been covered in plaster
and painted in bright colours. An absolute must if you're ever in the area. I
just wish we'd had more time to look around.
So, it was back on the bikes and off in the direction
of San Martino sul Fiora. This was quite a long climb and with both the sun and
humidity high, there was lots of perspiring. From San Martino, we followed signs for
Semproniano. Just before the town we stopped and ate our sandwiches on a quiet
corner. As we pulled up, we disturbed a large bird of prey (buzzard?) which
grudgingly left it's fence post and soared off effortlessly across the fields. The
roads were exquisitely quiet again, as we'd now come to expect. From Semproniano, we
climbed up towards Petricci. Just before there, the road forks, and you can take
either route as they meet up again just before Triana. Last year we'd taken the left
fork which takes you through Petricci, so this year we turned right. This takes you
through a small village called Cellena. I think I preferred this route. There
were great views across the valley to Mount Civitella. we pushed on through Triana
(not tempted by the drop down to Roccalbegna this time!), and I had forgotten how much
more climbing there is to do after Triana. But, we were now both evidently in good
shape, and were out of the saddle almost sprinting round the last few hairpins. Once
you reach the 'top' however, this road is still deceptively hard. It seems downhill,
but isn't for at least another two kilometres. It's not until you approach the
chemical factory on your right that the descent proper begins, and you zoom down into
Arcidosso.
Once in Arcidosso, we found a bank where I could
change a few traveller's cheques, found a bar, where I could spend some of that money, and
then found a hotel, the Hotel Dayana on Via Risorgimento where a double room cost us
L100,000, with breakfast. I suspect we were the only ones in the hotel, and
certainly we were the only ones in the hotel restaurant that evening, which was a shame.
The food was excellent, and the owner and his wife were extremely friendly. |
