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Porta del Molesino

(o del De Rossi)


The subsoil of Vignanello is rich in underground spaces and paths, on whose origin and function no satisfactory studies have yet been carried out. Until recently the only information about them were the more or less romanticized stories of those who had had the opportunity to visit them by entering them from some of the outlets present in various points of the town, in the Ruspoli castle or near it.

What will you see

The connutti (this is the term used to indicate the tunnels in the local dialect) develop along a main line that goes from the Valle della Cupa (southwest of the town) towards the Ruspoli castle, approximately in a west-east direction, then there are several branches towards other areas of the town, currently being explored, as well as isolated sections and other routes outside the town of Vignanello, such as in Cenciano Diruto.

The use of tunnels by the Etruscans is known, mainly for the purpose of collecting water from the underground aquifers and then transporting it or drawing it from wells. For this reason, given the existence of a Faliscan centre in the place where Vignanello stands today, there is the possibility that it was the Faliscans who built these underground passages, which were subsequently reused and partly expanded in the Middle Ages for other purposes, probably defence, without however losing their original function of transporting water. In fact, even today, a pipe runs along the main line which supplies the fountains of the Italian garden annexed to the Ruspoli Castle.