What to See and Do

The tourist information office is found in the Palazzo del Pretorio (tel. 0564 61 40 74). There is a combined ticket available comprising most of the important Etruscan monuments and sights in Sovana and Sorano such as Tomba della Sirena, Tomba di Ildebranda, Fortezza Orsini, the Necropolis of St Rocco and the Vitozza caves.
From the tourist information office cross the Piazza del Pretorio towards Chiesa di Santa Maria (Piazza del Pretorio). It was built in the Romanesque style, yet other styles such as the Renaissance frescoes and the pre-Romanesque 9th century white marble ciborium have been incorporated. This canopy or ciborium of the pre-Romanesque style is one of the few which can still be seen in the region.
The cathedral (Via del Duomo) was constructed along Gothic Romanesque lines. It was begun in the 9th century and reconstructed in the 12th and 13th centuries . It is said that its northern portal was made of fragments from the original construction or maybe even from a pagan temple.
The mansions and vestiges of a fortress in the east of Sovana were Gregory VII’s family properties.
Sovana ‘s Necropolis has the most remarkable Etruscan tombs in Tuscany. To reach the Tomba della Sirena the trail is signposted and there are tomb façades carved into the rock. The Tomba di Ildebranda was built resembling a temple of which there are some vestiges of columns and stairs. It is, among all the Etruscan tombs, the most impressive.
Towards the east of Sovana in San Quirico is the Vitozza rock caves (tel. 0564 61 40 74) which are composed of over 200 caves inhabited in prehistoric times.