Tane del Diavolo in Parrano
An articulated complex of caves of karstic origin opens up on the slopes of the hill where the village of Parrano (just north of Orvieto) arises, on the walls of a gorge and along the ditch of Bagno. These caves are called with the charming toponym of Nests of the Devil.
An articulated complex of caves of karstic origin opens up on the slopes of the hill where the village of Parrano (just north of Orvieto) arises, on the walls of a gorge and along the ditch of Bagno. These caves are called with the charming toponym of Nests of the Devil. Important archaeological materials of different epochs come from these cavities and range from the Neolithic age (the moment of transition from the Stone Age to the Age of Metals, at the beginning of the third millennium B.C.) until the late Bronze Age. At the beginning of the gorge there is a source whose waters are characterized by a rather accentuated process of thermal springs, since they gush at the temperature of about 28 degrees Celsius. Here you can find a thermal lake, where you could take a refreshing bath once left the caves!
The Centre of Territorial documentation or Museum of the Territory is a small exhibition complex located at the entrance of the Parrano village, in the same building hosting the primary school Sante De Sanctis, downstairs. It consists of four sections: the first one on the geology of the territory and the canyon’s formation where the Devil’s Nests are located; the second section about the history of the archaeological excavations of the Nests and their results, accompanied by the exhibition of materials dating back to the early Palaeolithic and the late Bronze Age; the third section refers to the discovery and the excavation of the Etruscan tomb in Soriano, with some pieces of the kit, including important pots of the Orvieto Group (6th century B.C.); the fourth section refers to the history of Parrano’s castrum from the Middle Ages to our times, with the reproduction of an extensive range of archive documents, including some papers of the Statute of the Parrano’s castrum, dating back to 1559. The visit to the Centre can be combined with the excursion to the Devil’s Nests or can be made independently. Source: www.comune.parrano.tr.it