Via cava

They consist mainly of trenches of variable width and length, excavated as nearly vertical cliffs in different types of bedrock, sometimes over sixty feet high, possibly serving as a defense system against invaders, wild animals or forces of nature.

Although often dated as being carved by pre-Roman civilisations in the first or second millennium BC, the builders and purpose of the road system are largely unclear, and there are indications that they are much older than assumed.

In Italy they are sometimes narrow, sometimes wider cuttings often running deeply through hills and bedrock, and are thought to have changed little since Etruscan times.

Their construction is said to have resulted from the wearing through soft tuff but also harder bedrock by iron-rimmed wheels, creating deep ruts that required the road to be frequently recut to a smooth surface.

Around Sorano the Vie Cave begin coming out of the Porta dei Merli, and descending into the valley of the river Lente.