The hilltop strongholds rising out of volcanic tufo in the Maremma region are a legacy of the Etruscans, and Pitigliano is the most spectacular:

The first glimpse of Pitigliano, carved from honey-coloured rock and pocked with Etruscan tombs and medieval cellars, makes people gasp

There are very few signs of modernisation here

The Vie Cave are the megalithic corridors that slice through the countryside: sacred routes which link necropolis sites and some of the towns; no one knows how the Etruscans engineered these deep incisions without modern tools:

There are still torchlit pagan processions in the Vie Cave, to mark the Spring equinox (La Torciata di 9 Marzo), culminating in the burning of an 8-metre straw effigy.

In summer there is the Festa of Corpus Domini, originating in the 12th century:

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Meticulous flower-petal designs are created throughout Pitigliano only to be trampled over by a priest, releasing the scent of sage and green leaves into the air:

Around the corner are similarly untouched, higgledy-piggledy medieval towns such as Sorano:

And Montemerano, where every June a “notte romantica” is held and the locals festoon the town with hearts:

In Pitigliano the Casa dei Lavatoi (old wash-house) under the Medici-era aqueduct is possibly the most atmospheric place to stay:

In Medieval times Maremma was a haven for the Jewish minority, who were active in Pitigliano and left their heritage in the town’s old ghetto:

(During World War II, Pitigliano’s remaining 30 or so Jews were saved by local families who hid them in the countryside around the town).

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12th-century volcanic stone relief depicting good and evil on the outside wall of the ancient Church of San Rocco, Pitigliano:

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It’s worth travelling an hour into Lazio to see Civita di Bagnoregio, “la città che muore”, before it crumbles into the tufo it’s built on:

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©2017