Top 5 Caves in Pisa

to see. nature's spectacle. you have to leave the bikes and go on foot. climb to the left to see them.

Two hypogeum tombs dating from the 3rd to 1st centuries BC are visible in this necropolis, which (possibly) belonged to the Calcina gens. Etruscan Volterra had probably been conquered by Rome as early as 298 BC, but its civilization and rituals remained present for a long time. The tombs were probably discovered in 1880, but the date is uncertain.

There are scorpions here! A real crypt, but it is illuminated. Located about 100m from the main street.

The ancient settlement is located in the Lucca area, but near the border with the province of Pisa, near the Passo di Croce where the old communication route between Pisa and Lucca passed and can be reached on foot from the pass itself. Some authors identify the area as the Hermitage of San Giuliano di Spelonca, others as S. Giorgio. The hermitage was founded in 1190 by the black hermits (by the priests magister Johannes de Petris, later called Honestus, and Dulcis). The founders were not hermits in the classical sense who chose solitude and meditation (eremos = alone), but groups of monks who decided to live together like the apostles, in poverty, in rather isolated places, even in contrast with the ecclesiastical institutions. They also dedicated themselves to the religious assistance of the population who lived in these places and who had difficulty reaching the churches. There were many hermit settlements in Tuscany and especially on the Monti Pisani, which some identify with the Mons heremita, which also appears in a fresco in the Camposanto monumentale of Pisa and in another in the church of S. Agostino in S. Gimignano. The many legends that exist regarding the presence of hermits on the Monti Pisani at the beginning of the Christian era and in the early Middle Ages are not, to this day, supported by documentary or archaeological evidence. The most evident construction currently is represented by a small single-hall church, from a later period than the foundation; the facade and the barrel vault are from 1800, but the structures, which also show a later extension that could have eliminated a previous apse, are of medieval origin. An uncommon case, there are interesting structures in its vicinity dug directly into the rock including a cistern with a quadrangular mouth, dug partly into the rock and partly into the cave room by means of a retaining wall, on which there are also stone supports and notches in the rock (probable support of wooden structures), a staircase with holes for a gate or door and a circular basin surrounded by channels, post holes and joints; furthermore, base rooms for probable structures of the hermitage are visible. Similar structures also seem to be present on the right side beyond the opening of the cave. From Comunedipisa.it

At the Cima della Sugheretta we will be able to visit the small cave of Buca delle Fate, one of the few that can be inspected on Monte Pisano without the aid of speleo equipment.

Very beautiful and evocative. It can be accessed by means of a rope present at the entrance.

One almost overlooks the small sign that points to this really old Etruscan burial site. A small path from the road along an olive grove, there is a small entrance. A few steps down, a small burial chamber with 4 graves unfolds. That was it already. Only worth it for those who are really interested in Etruscan history. None of the others miss anything here.

In this necropolis there are two hypogeum tombs from the III-I century BC. belonged (maybe) to the Gens Calcina. The Etruscan Volterra had probably already been conquered by Rome (298 BC), but its civilization and rites were still (and for a long time) around. The graves were likely found in 1880, but the date is not certain. The second grave also descends deep into the ground with a double staircase (dromos) ... certainly only partially original. If you go down the stairs, you come to a large, square anteroom from which four (small) burial chambers lead, each with docks for storing urns. (Parking is not possible here, you should come on foot)