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Porta di Santa Maria in Civita di Bagnoregio: the only gateway to the dying village
Porta di Santa Maria (St Mary’s Gate) is the sole surviving entrance to Civita di Bagnoregio, the village suspended above the Valley of the Calanchi (“badlands”). Carved into the tufa rock by the Etruscans and later remodelled in the medieval period with a pointed (ogival) arch, it took its current form in 1558. The name derives from the Church of St Mary that once stood above the archway — a building that has since disappeared.
The lions of the revolt
Flanking the arch are two bas-reliefs carved in basalt: lions clutching human heads in their claws. They commemorate the uprising of 1457, when the people of Civita rebelled against the Monaldeschi della Cervara, the noble family of Orvieto that held power over the town — going so far as to raze their castle to the ground. On the same walls, graffiti-style crosses can still be seen, drawn, according to tradition, by pilgrims returning from the Holy Land.
Beyond the bridge
To reach the gate, visitors cross a 300-metre footbridge linking Civita to Bagnoregio — the only access route since the earthquake of 1695 brought down all other entrance points. Through the arch lies a village of barely a dozen permanent residents, visited by nearly a million visitors each year.
