Sovana

Leonardo noted clearly the site of the Etruscan town of Sovana, using the ancient denomination “Suana” on maps RL 12278 and RL 12277 (Royal Collection, Windsor Castle). By the 7^th century BC Suana was an important town in the Fiora Valley and it would remain so well into the period of Imperial Rome.
Located in what is now the municipality of Sorano, the Etruscan necropolis of Sovana, together with the settlement of San Rocco (not far from the village of Sorano) and the area of Vitozza with its caves, tombs and other traces of Etruscan habitation (in the district of San Quirico), make up the Parco Archeologico Città del Tufo; the largest section of the necropolis can be found to the north of a stream known as the Calesine. Noteworthy among the monumental burial sites are the Tomb of Pola and the Tomb of Hildebrand (named after Pope Gregory VII, who was born Hildebrand of Sovana). Also of interest are the Tomb of Typhon and the Tomb of the Winged Demons, two unusual examples of the tombe a edicola (above-ground tombs with four walls and a roof, from the Latin aedicula or little temple). In addition there are numerous vie cave or paths cut through the porous bedrock of the hillsides – the Cavone, the via cava of Poggio Prisca and the via cava of San Sebastiano.