Perched on a tuff spur, the village of Pitigliano looks like one of the most original and evocative of the area: the often lopsided houses, elongated and arranged in an unusual way appear to the visitor in a harmonious disorder.
The center of the town is accessed by an ancient gate, once equipped with a drawbridge.
The sixteenth- century aqueduct whose arches flank the street that leads to Piazza della Repubblica characterized by two terraces from which you can enjoy an exceptional panorama and where Palazzo Orsini stands is of particular importance .
Inside the Castle there is an elegant courtyard where there is a hexagonal well , the Civic Archaeological Museum , where Etruscan finds are exhibited and the Diocesan Museum of sacred art.
Inside the Orsini fortress there is also the Museum of Peasant Civilization.
In this unique private museum it is possible to observe a large quantity of rare local objects which, taken together, reconstruct a significant picture of the past life of the town and the Maremma.
The extremely characteristic center maintains its ancient medieval dress.
Organized on two main streets arranged in a horseshoe shape, it is set on alleys, lanes and small pitches where the signs of modernity are only marginal.
The subsoil of the town is an authentic second city, crossed by intercommunicating tunnels and by ancient rock rooms of indefinable age.
Worthy of mention is undoubtedly the ” GHETTO “, the Jewish quarter, where it is possible to visit the Synagogue , the Museum of the Jewish Heritage and the Forno delle Unzzime.
To visit are also the Cathedral with its bell tower; the ancient Church of San Rocco protector of Pitigliano and the district of Capisotto, the oldest in Pitigliano.
The surroundings of Pitigliano are of extreme interest: the open-air archaeological museum “Alberto Manzi “, the necropolis of Gradone and Poggio Buco , the Fonte dell’Olmo , the Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie, undoubtedly located in the most panoramic area of the town, the Jewish Cemetery, the Orsini Park , the remains of the Convent of San Francesco and, last but certainly not least, the Vie Cave.
These are colossal corridors carved into the tuff located, for every spatial direction, in the Pitigliano valley. Also called cut, as obtained thanks to the cutting of the tuff rock., They are semi-underground paths of Etruscan origin where ritual processions and sacred ceremonies were officiated.
There are about fifteen of them and they are to be considered the most important ancient vestiges of Pitigliano.