Like many of Escher's early works, it depicts a place that he visited on a tour of Italy.

It depicts the Abruzzo village of Castrovalva, which lies at the top of a sheer slope.

The perspective is toward the northwest, from the narrow trail on the left which, at the point from which this view is seen, makes a hairpin turn to the right, descending to the valley.

In the foreground at the side of the trail, there are several flowering plants, grasses, ferns, a beetle and a snail.

In the expansive valley below there are cultivated fields and two more towns, the nearest of which is Anversa degli Abruzzi, with Casale in the distance.