Sovana, a tufa town in Tuscany

Debra Kolkka

2 years ago

After our recent visit to the hot springs in Saturnia (Saturnia hot springs ) we stopped at Sovana, a charming tiny town in southern Tuscany. It is listed as one of the “prettiest towns in Italy” and it llives up to the title. It was almost abandoned at one point, possibly because of its position in a malaria district. Its economic revival came with its “prettiest town” nomination. It is perhaps a good thing that it was abandoned. It lovely buildings remain largely in their original state.

The historical buildings made from tufa in the town are now cafes, restaurants, shops and places to stay, making it well worth a visit. The tufa towns were built from the tufa or “tuff”, the bedrock that formed into steep hills from volcanic ash.

The drive towards the town took us through a tufa tunnel.

Looking back.

There is a car park very close to the centre of the town, and the lovely piazza.

The Palazzo Comunale or Pallazzo dell’Archivo was probably built in the 13th century to house the medieval council headquarters. Later the building became the depository of Archives.

The Palazzo Pretorio is one of the few ancient civil buildings in the Maremma. It was probably built in the 15th century on top of an older building.

The Chiesa di Santa Maria.

The church with the little belltower, has its entrance on the side. Its original entrance used to be on the shorter side, but the original facade was covered by another building.

The interior is divided into 3 naves, with squat pillars that support broad arches and the heavy beamed ceiling. It shows the transition between Romasque and Gothic styles.

In the apse is a rare travertine ciborium, one of the few examples in Tuscany of pre Romanesque art from the 8th – 9th centuries.

There are only a couple of streets in the town.

An abandoned spot.

At the far end of town we found the Sovana Cathedral built in the 11th and 12th centuries over an ancient 8th century edifice.

The crypt dates from the 8th century.

At the other end of town is La Rocco Aldobrandesco which was the home of the Aldobrandesci earls until the end of the 13th century when they moved their official residence to Pitigliano. It was transformed into a fortress by the Orsini family after they took over the county.

We were in Sovana mid week in early spring so there were few people about. The town is well cared for and well prestented. We could see that it was being made ready for the season and we would like to go back and stay the night.

Here are a couple of photos of our late afternoon and early morning visits to the hot springs in Saturnia.