# Civita di Bagnoregio

A medieval village on a crag that erosion is steadily wearing away, in the middle of a valley of clay gullies. You enter on foot by a long, steep footbridge, and only a few people live there.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/italy/civita-di-bagnoregio · Revisado: 2026-11-11

## Why is it falling apart?

The village is built on volcanic rock, tuff, which rests on soft clays. Rain and streams carry away the clay at the base, the tuff loses its support and breaks off in pieces. Over the centuries the crag has thus become isolated and narrow, and the path that joined it to Bagnoregio collapsed. Today you reach it only by a pedestrian footbridge that crosses the void.

Around it lies the Valle dei Calanchi, a valley of grey, bare clay gullies. The writer Bonaventura Tecchi called it "the dying city". Only a few people live in the village, although by day it is full of life.

## How much time do I need?

Two or three hours for the climb, the village and the landslide museum. Half a day with lunch. It combines well with Orvieto on the same day.

## How do I get there?

By car, park in Bagnoregio and walk a quarter of an hour through the town to the viewpoint where the bridge begins; a shuttle sometimes runs. Without a car, take the train to Orvieto or Viterbo and a bus to Bagnoregio; check the connections, which are few on public holidays.

## Dónde está
- Zonas: Curious Places
- Cerca: Orvieto (a 10.1 km), Lake Bolsena and Tuscania (a 16.8 km), Viterbo and Villa Lante (a 23.4 km), Caprarola and Bomarzo (a 26.3 km)

## Qué hacer
- **The Bridge and the Village** (2 h · All ages · Desde 5 € per person): What it is
Civita di Bagnoregio is a village founded by the Etruscans some 2,500 years ago on an outcrop of tuff and clay that erosion is slowly eating away. Earthquakes and landslides have carried palaces, towers and gates down into the valley, which is why it is called "the dying city". Today about ten residents live there. You can only reach it on foot, by a footbridge built in 1965 that links it to Bagnoregio, over the valley of the calanchi, the bare clay gullies that surround it.
The route step by step

The bridge. From the Bagnoregio side you cross the footbridge. The first stretch is gentle; the last is a very steep ramp that climbs to the village gate.
Porta Santa Maria. It is the only one of the five old gates that remains, cut into the tuff in Etruscan times and with a Gothic arch added in the Middle Ages. On either side, two basalt lions hold human heads in their claws: they recall the villagers' revolt of 1457 against the Monaldeschi of Orvieto.
Piazza San Donato. The central square, of earth, with the church of San Donato opposite the old town hall. The church is Romanesque in origin with a Renaissance façade; it was the cathedral until the earthquake of 1695 forced the see to move to Bagnoregio. Inside is its main piece, a wooden crucifix from the school of Donatello: seen from the left, Christ seems to be in agony; from the right, asleep in death.
Museum and houses. In the same square, the Palazzo Alemanni holds the Geological and Landslide Museum. Along the side streets you reach the house of Saint Bonaventure and the chapel of the Madonna del Carcere.
The edges of the outcrop. At the end of the streets the village is cut off abruptly: look out to see the calanchi and what erosion has taken away. The Etruscan tunnel of Bucaione, which crossed the outcrop to the valley, is closed for now.

Entry and opening hours
To enter you pay €5, online, in the official app or at the ticket office. Children under 6, people with a 100% disability and one companion, residents of Bagnoregio and guests of accommodation inside the village, among others, do not pay. The Piazzale Battaglini ticket office opens on the busiest days (Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays); on quiet days the Mercatello one, next to the bridge, opens. It is detailed under Civita ticket.
Getting there and parking
The car stays in Bagnoregio. From the Piazzale Battaglini car park you cross the town on foot in about 15 minutes or take the Italviaggi shuttle to the Belvedere park, with the ticket bought on board. There are car parks closer to the bridge, but not for motorhomes. Without a car, take the train to Orvieto or Viterbo and continue on the COTRAL bus.
How long and when to go
Allow about two hours for the bridge, the village and the museum. Arrive before ten or late in the afternoon: mid-morning the groups arrive and the bridge fills up. At sunset the light on the calanchi is very beautiful. In autumn and spring, first thing, mist sometimes fills the valley and only the outcrop peeks out. On the first Sunday of June and the second Sunday of September the Palio della Tonna, with donkeys, is run in the square.
With children, pushchairs and accessibility
Children like crossing the bridge and exploring the village, which is small and car-free. With a pushchair it can be done, with effort: the final ramp is very steep and inside there is cobbling. A baby carrier is better. If you have reduced mobility, the slope of the last stretch is the main obstacle.
Eating and sleeping
Inside the village you can eat at the Osteria al Forno di Agnese, the Trattoria Antico Forno or Alma Civita. To stay once the day trippers have gone, Corte della Maestà or the Antico Forno rooms.
- **Geological and Landslide Museum** (45 min · Families · Desde 3 € per person): What it is
The Geological and Landslide Museum (Museo Geologico e delle Frane) explains why Civita is falling down and what is being done to stop it. It is on the second floor of the Palazzo Alemanni, in Piazza San Donato, the village's central square. It is a short visit, of about 30 to 45 minutes, and makes sense of everything you have just seen from the bridge.
What you see
The rooms are interactive and tell the story of the terrain in order:

The ancient sea. More than a million years ago the whole area was under a shallow sea. With models and cross-sections of the ground you see how that seabed produced the clays, sands and conglomerates that form the base of the outcrop.
The volcanoes. On top were deposited the tuffs and ashes from the eruptions of the Volsini volcanic complex, the same one that formed Lake Bolsena. It is the hard rock on which Civita was built.
Erosion and the calanchi. The mix of hard rock on soft clay means that water and time open deep, almost bare gullies, the calanchi, and that the edge of the outcrop breaks away.
Landslides and monitoring. Photographs, materials and studies on the historic collapses, the instability that continues today and the monitoring and consolidation works that try to keep the village standing.

There are rocks and fossils, and panels worth reading calmly: if you are interested in geology, it is more interesting than its size suggests.
Opening hours
Sources do not agree, so call before you go. Civita's official website gives, for summer (1 June to 31 August), Tuesday to Sunday, from 9:30 to 13:30 and from 14:00 to 18:30. The Ministry of Culture listing gives 10:00 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 18:00 every day, closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January. No reservation is needed. The museum's phone number is +39 328 665 7205.
Price
The Ministry of Culture listing gives €3 for the museum, paid on top of the €5 Civita ticket. The same listing also mentions €5 as the full price, so confirm the amount at the ticket office.
Getting there
The museum is inside Civita, so you first have to leave the car in Bagnoregio, pay the entry to the village and cross the bridge on foot. From the Santa Maria gate, Piazza San Donato is two minutes' walk.
With children and accessibility
The models and the interactive section work with school-age children, especially after crossing the bridge and seeing the gullies. For the youngest it is short and quickly done. The museum is on a second floor and the official sources do not say whether there is a lift: if you have reduced mobility, ask by phone.
When to fit it in
It is best to go in halfway through your visit to Civita, when you have already seen the edges of the outcrop and before returning to the Bagnoregio viewpoint, from where you will look at the valley with different eyes.
- **Bagnoregio Viewpoint and Its Old Town** (30 min · With a pushchair · On your own · free): What it is
Before crossing to Civita, from the edge of Bagnoregio, you have the postcard view: the footbridge stretched across the valley and, at the end, the village perched on its tuff outcrop, surrounded by the calanchi, almost bare clay gullies opened by erosion over millennia. From here you understand at a glance why Civita is called "the dying city": you see it isolated, held up on a base that is crumbling away.
The viewpoint is in the Belvedere park, in Piazza Alberto Ricci in Bagnoregio, where the descent to the bridge begins. It is free and always open: you do not need the Civita ticket to look out.
Getting there

By car: park at the car park in Piazzale Battaglini, at the entrance to Bagnoregio, and cross the town on foot, about 15 minutes through the old town. There are car parks closer to the bridge, but they fill up on busy days. Motorhomes must stay at Battaglini.
By shuttle: the Italviaggi town bus links Piazzale Battaglini with Piazza Alberto Ricci, in the Belvedere park. The ticket is bought on board.
By bus from Orvieto or Viterbo: COTRAL buses reach Bagnoregio; see bus from Orvieto.

The walk through Bagnoregio
The walk from Battaglini crosses Bagnoregio's old town, which began as Rota, a district of farmers and craftsmen to which the nobles of Civita moved after the earthquakes and collapses. After the earthquake of 1695 the cathedral was also moved here, to the collegiate church of San Nicola. Saint Bonaventure, the Franciscan theologian, was born in Bagnoregio: according to legend, Saint Francis cured him as a child in an Etruscan tomb in Civita.
When to go
At sunset the light falls sideways on the calanchi and the outcrop takes on colour: Civita's own website highlights that hour. First thing in the morning, in autumn and spring, mist sometimes fills the valley and only the village peeks out. At midday in summer the light is harsh and flat, and that is when most people are on the bridge.
What you see and what you do not
You see the whole bridge, the outcrop and the face of the calanchi. You do not see the inside of the village: for that you have to cross, pay the entry and climb up. Allow half an hour if you are just coming to look and take photos, and add about two hours if you then cross to the bridge and village.
With children and pushchairs
The park and the viewpoint are flat and easy with a pushchair. The walk through Bagnoregio from Battaglini has some slope and narrow pavements, but is manageable. What is hard with a pushchair is the bridge, not the viewpoint.
Facilities
The viewpoint has no facilities of its own. To cross, the Mercatello ticket office, next to the bridge, opens on quiet days to buy the Civita ticket.
- **Orvieto, Half an Hour Away** (4 h · Everyone · Desde 8 € cathedral entry): What it is
Orvieto is an Umbrian city built, like Civita, on an outcrop of volcanic tuff, but much bigger and livelier. It is about half an hour by car from Bagnoregio and has a railway station on the Rome–Florence line, so it is the natural base if you travel without a car: COTRAL buses to Bagnoregio leave from its station. Half a day is enough for the cathedral, St Patrick's Well and a walk through the centre.
What to see

The cathedral (Duomo). Its Gothic façade of marble and golden mosaics is the image of the city. Inside, the San Brizio chapel holds Luca Signorelli's frescoes of the Last Judgement. The Duomo ticket includes the cathedral, the Emilio Greco Museum and the cathedral's underground areas, with an audio guide.
St Patrick's Well. A well 54 metres deep and 13 across that Antonio da Sangallo the Younger built between 1527 and 1537 for Pope Clement VII, who had taken refuge in Orvieto after the Sack of Rome, to secure water in case of siege. It has two independent spiral staircases, with 248 steps in all, so that mules could go down one and come up the other without meeting. Light enters through 72 windows. It has its own entry: check the price on the well's website before going.
The Claudio Faina Etruscan Museum. Opposite the cathedral, with pieces from the Etruscan necropolises of the area. It can be added to the Duomo ticket.
The centre. Streets of tuff and basalt between the cathedral, Piazza della Repubblica and the medieval quarter, with ceramics shops and views of the valley from the edges of the outcrop.

Cathedral hours and prices
The Opera del Duomo publishes this timetable for the cathedral, museums and underground areas:

November to February: 9:30 to 17:00.
March, April, May and October: 9:30 to 19:00.
June to September: 9:30 to 20:00.
Sundays and public holidays: 10:00 to 11:00 and 13:00 to 16:30 in winter, or until 17:30 from March to October.

The Duomo ticket costs €8, and with the Claudio Faina Etruscan Museum, €11. Children under 11, people with disabilities and their companion enter free; free tickets are collected at the ticket office. The Carta Unica di Orvieto, which brings together several museums and monuments, gives access to the Duomo and costs from €25. There are closing days for celebrations: on 1 January and on Corpus Christi day 2027 (30 May), the cathedral cannot be visited.
Getting there from Civita
By car, about 30 minutes from Bagnoregio. In Orvieto, park down below, next to the station, and go up to the centre on the funicular, which drops you at Piazza Cahen; from there the cathedral is a short walk. Without a car, COTRAL buses link Bagnoregio with Orvieto station: the details are under bus from Orvieto. On public holidays there are few: check the last bus back before setting out.
How to organise it
If you have one day, do Civita first thing, before the groups arrive, and go down to Orvieto after lunch: the cathedral stays open late from March to October. Or the other way round: sleep in Orvieto and drive up to Civita first thing. Allow about four hours for Orvieto: an hour and a half for the Duomo with the San Brizio chapel, one for the well and the rest for wandering.
With children
St Patrick's Well usually impresses them: going down and up the spiral staircase is an adventure, although the 248 steps are tiring. Children under 11 do not pay at the cathedral. With a pushchair, the centre is passable, but the well is not.
- **Lake Bolsena** (3 h · Families): What it is
Lake Bolsena fills the caldera of an ancient volcanic complex, the Volsini mountains, which collapsed more than 300,000 years ago. It is the fifth largest lake in Italy by area: about 113 km², 13 km long by 11 wide and 43 km of shoreline, at an altitude of 305 metres. It has two islands, Bisentina and Martana, and eight towns on its shores, among them Bolsena, Capodimonte, Marta and Montefiascone.
From Civita it is about half an hour by car, to the west. In summer it is the plan that balances a morning of hills: an afternoon swim in fresh water.
Where to swim
The town of Bolsena, on the north shore, is the most convenient option from Civita: it has a promenade by the lake and the town a step away for lunch or a drink. Capodimonte, on the south shore, opposite Bisentina island, has a harbour with boats that leave to go round the islands. Marta, next to it, is the town where the lake drains into the river of the same name.
Water quality and safety
Bolsena is one of the few large Italian lakes considered suitable for swimming along its entire length, but tests have given different results depending on the year and the spot. In 2017, analyses by the Lazio environmental agency (ARPA Lazio) came out excellent at all its points, while the association Legambiente found pollution at one. Swim in the areas marked as suitable and check the signs on the shore. Keep an eye on children in the water and do not swim far from the shore: the lake is big and deep, with an average depth of 81 metres.
The islands
Martana, the smaller, is private and cannot be visited, but boats leaving from the harbours at Capodimonte and Bolsena go round it. Bisentina, the larger, is opposite Capodimonte. Departures and prices change with the season: ask at the harbour.
What else to see
In the town of Bolsena, the basilica of Santa Cristina is linked to the Miracle of Bolsena of 1263, the origin of the feast of Corpus Christi; the corporal of the miracle is kept in the cathedral of Orvieto.
When to go
From June to September for swimming. In July and August at weekends it fills with people from Rome and Viterbo: go on a weekday or in the late afternoon, when the light on the water is prettiest. Outside summer it is a good mid-afternoon stroll, without a swim.
Getting there and parking
By car from Bagnoregio, about 30 minutes. In summer, at weekends, the car park by the lake fills up: arrive early or in mid-afternoon. Without a car, the lake is far away: it is not a good bus excursion from Bagnoregio.
With children
It is a good family plan: fresh water and towns with facilities nearby. Bring water shoes in case the shore is stony.

## Dónde comer
- **Osteria al Forno di Agnese** (Restaurant, Civita di Bagnoregio, €€). Qué pedir: pollo alla civitonica.
- **Trattoria Antico Forno** (Restaurant, Civita di Bagnoregio, €€). Qué pedir: homemade pasta and local dishes.
- **Alma Civita** (Restaurant, Civita di Bagnoregio, €€€). Qué pedir: Lazio cooking in a room dug into the tuff.

## As a family: A Bridge over the Void

Crossing the footbridge to a village that is falling down is an adventure for any child. The final climb is tiring, but short.

### What works best
The bridge and the village streets

The landslide museum, which explains it

The Bagnoregio viewpoint, with no hills

An afternoon swim in Lake Bolsena in summer

### Where to sleep
Simple rooms inside the village

### Where to eat
House chicken and pasta in the trattorias on the square

### Keep in mind
Under-6s free

Pushchairs are difficult on the ramp: a baby carrier is better

In the midday sun the bridge has no shade

### Qué hacer as a family
- The Bridge and the Village
- Geological and Landslide Museum
- Bagnoregio Viewpoint and Its Old Town
- Lake Bolsena

## Consejos

### Arrive before ten
Groups from Rome arrive mid-morning and queue at the bridge.

### Take your photo from the Bagnoregio viewpoint
The classic view, with the bridge and the village above the void, is from the Bagnoregio side.

### Stay the night
In the evening, when the day trippers leave, Civita goes back to being a village with about ten residents.

### Wear comfortable shoes
The last stretch of the bridge is a very steep ramp.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### Can you go with a pushchair?
With effort. The bridge is very steep at the end and inside there are cobbled streets. A baby carrier is better.

### How much does it cost to get in?
€5 per person. Children under 6 and people with a 100% disability, with one companion, don't pay. The geological museum charges separately.

### Can you drive in?
No. The bridge is pedestrian: the car stays in Bagnoregio.

### Can you do it from Rome in a day?
Yes, it's about two hours each way by car. Better to combine it with Orvieto and sleep in the area.