Over 5 km of tunnels as well as more than 30 pre-Roman, Roman and Medieval cisterns and 500 wells from different eras make up the city’s extremely rich underground heritage.
This well-structured underground system running through the inside of the hill was created to carry surface water to the valley, evidence of how well the water resources and geomorphologic features of the hill were exploited technically to limit leak damage and meet people’s daily needs. The first tunnels, wells and cisterns were made during the second stage of the urbanisation of ancient Tuder, between the 2nd-1st century B.C.. The two Roman cisterns situated under Piazza del Popolo, which held up the floor of the Roman forum, have been well-preserved and may be visited. They are remarkably large: 80 m long, 8 m wide and 8 m high. They were most likely made by filling in the valley separating the two hills upon which the city was built, Rocca Hill and the one the Cathedral was built upon.
Since 1969, the Gruppo Speleologico Tuderte (Todi Spelunking Group) has mainly been exploring the Tiber River Park and the Martani Mountains, where the majority of the most extensive natural systems of caves and grottos of great paleontological interest are concentrated.
One of the most important underground networks is the Pozzi della Piana in Titignano and the Voragine del Volgorzzino in Scoppieto. In some of the areas bordering Todi, underground networks exist that have not been entirely explored and whose hydro-geological features have yet to be completely identified.
Since its early years, the group has been committed to rediscovering Todi’s underground heritage. More than 50 natural underground cavities have been discovered by the Todi Spelunking Group: some are listed in the Catasto Speleologico della Regione, while all of them have been catalogued in the group’s archives.
gruppospeleotodi@libero.it
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