Monte Casoli di Bomarzo Nature Reserve

Monte Casoli

The attractive tufa plateau of volcanic origin was created by the erosive action over the millennia of the Sodera to the south and the Vezza to the north. It is reached along a road, partially un-surfaced, which starts from the historic centre of Bomarzo; follow the signs for the 'Parco dei Mostri', drive past the entrance at about 2.5 km from the town. You can leave your car near the small church of Santa Maria di Monte Casoli, dating back to Medieval times and extended during the 16th century. On the uplands are still to be seen the ruins of a castle, square blocks hewn from tufa and defensive ditches, perhaps dating back to Etruscan times.
Amidst a thick wood of oak trees you will find a number of cavities dug by man over the centuries. They are very often similar: square rooms with stone benches round the sides, with clear evidence of re-utilisation (small window apertures, mangers, hollows for transforming them into pens or stables). It is uncertain whether they were originally Etruscan tombs.
What we can be sure of is that Monte Casoli, similarly to other centres on the tufa plateau of upper Lazio, was fortified at the time of Roman expansion, abandoned following its conquest and re-occupied during the Middle Ages, again for purposes of defence.