San Venanzo East

For this route you need to download the map on your mobile or GPS.

 From San Venanzo take the Statale in the direction of Orvieto and then turn left into Via della Cava. You reach the area of ​​the volcanoes and continue uphill following the track until you reach a small asphalt road; turn right and, after a few meters, take a downhill road on the left, which you follow downhill until you reach the Faena stream, which must be crossed. After a few tens of meters of lawn, the trace of an uphill road appears clear in front of us, towards the south, which we will follow until we reach Podere Vaiano (Tenuta Colli Verdi); before reaching this structure, it is possible to find a fence on the track and, in this case, it is necessary to bend to the left going alongside it.

We will take the gravel road towards the east and we will leave it at the second dirt route that we will find on our right. We go downhill until the Calvana torrent which we will follow towards the valley until our route crosses it to enter a large meadow, which we will leave on our left, skirting the edge of the woods inside which there is a ditch. When the road under our feet turns left (towards northeast), we find a passage on the right that crosses the ditch; we take it following another clearly visible track and we will find ourselves on another meadow, which we will leave on the right alongside the edge of the woods. After a few meters we will find a dirth path on the left, in the woods, which goes significantly uphill. Following it, we will then find ourselves on the bend of an asphalt road (Ospedaletto – Ripalvella), which we will take to the left towards the east. Following the track, we will find ourselves in the village of Ripalvella.

Once you reach the square that precedes the access to the oldest part of the village (it may be interesting to take a tour), on our right we find a small road with houses on the right and a wall on the left. We follow this road until we leave the inhabited center; we continue until we find the woods in front of us; we leave it on our left and, skirting it, after a few tens of meters we will find a downhill dirt road that enters the woods and forms an acute angle with our previous direction. This will take us down to the valley and we will reach another dirt road that we will take to the left (towards the north). When we will then reach an almost ruined farmhouse (Podere Ocero) we will have to turn around it and follow a track that climbs into the woods, leaving the most obvious road that continues in front of us. At the end of the ascent we will find ourselves at Podere Calvano; here we must continue to the left, leaving the fence on our right and following it, until we can take the road parallel to us in the absence of a fence. This road will take us to the asphalt road, which we will take to the left (towards the west). At the next crossroads, we will turn right (north) and then, at the next crossroads, we will turn right again (east) until we will reach the medieval village of Collelungo.

A walk through the streets of the village can be interesting here too. Here there is also a cellar with a long history, beautiful and still working.

To continue, take the asphalt road that goes alongside the medieval walls and continue downhill until you find the sign indicating Tenute Capitolini on the left. Follow that direction until you will be at the edge of the woods (laving the building on the left); on the right, inside the woods, we will find a dirt road towards the northeast, at times in the woods at times on the meadow, which we will follow going always downhill, crossing a ditch and then uphill. After leaving the woods we will find ourselves in front of cultivated fields; on our left, almost parallel to the road travelled until now, we will find another dirt track. Here you need to pay attention to the track on your device as the track becomes a path and will allow us to reach a much more evident road which will then become a gravel road and will take us to Badia, a small set of buildings that was once a convent. We will leave them on our right and, shortly afterwards, at the crossroads, we will continue towards the west, uphill, until we will reach the asphalt road, which we will follow towards the north (turning right).

After 300 meters along the downhill asphalt road, on our left we will find a gravel area from which we will take the wide gravel road going downhill (towards the west); at the end of the descent, always towards the west you will find a road (temporary sign “Sa, Bartolomeo”). Always following this road in the woods, we must pay attention to our track: after passing a ditch and always following the only road, just after the first curve to the left we will find a fairly evident track on our right (always towards the west). We take it leaving the most obvious road in front of us; always following this dirt track we will arrive, after a descent, on the plateau alongside the Faena torrent, where a track on the grass runs alongside the river bed bending south, and we will reach the ford, after which, after a climb, we will find ourselves in Rotecastello.

Visiting this extraordinary village is highly recommended.

Our journey continues along the asphalt road, uphill, up to the first bend, where there is a downhill road on our left (towards the south west) which we will follow until we reach the second farmhouse (Podere Faena). Just before it, we will bend to the right, uphill; after a bend, we will find ourselves on a slightly uneven but easy dirt track. We will always go straight until it arrives out of the woods, where, always following the road, we will turn right and in a few minutes we will reach San Venanzo.