I left Viterbo from a different gate to the one I’d entered yesterday.

I can imagine the trepidation of pilgrims leaving the security of a walled town to face the danger of brigands, wolves and so on. I only have the traffic to contend with.

An early part of the walk followed the path of a minor Roman road though there wasn’t much left to see.

I met a man out collecting mushrooms. He had a basket with leaves to cover the mushies.

These were porcini , boletus edulis, though he said they were a bit old.

There was a lot of climbing this morning – up through a large and beautiful beech forest .

Via romea Germanica

I had glimpses of the Lago di Vigo

and glimpses of mud!

The forest was beautiful with only the sound of birds twittering breaking the silence .

There were a few cyclists coming past – there’s one in the distance n the photo above.

I had a lady bug hitch hiking for a while before she flew off.

It was a steady climb for a few hours to the peak of my walk at Le Cime just over 900m above sea level or 600m above Viterbo.

After passing the forest, I walked through an area of wheat growing and hazel nut plantations.

Here you can see the hazel nut trees on the right and a beautiful old oak tree on the left..

I passed the town of Ronciglione.

How different it is to the Austrian towns I was walking through 5 weeks ago!

Mid afternoon I arrived at Sutri, an ancient and very pleasant town.

Without the shower I was dying for and without changing from my boots to my light shoes, I headed straight to the archeological park that I missed three years ago.

There’s an amphitheater cut out of the tuff volcanic rock dating from around the first century AD.

What I really was keen to see was the little church of the Madonna del Parto dating from the 8th century. I was lucky to get on the last guided visit of the day

It’s thought to have started life as s temple to the Persian god Mithras . This cult was spread through the empire by soldiers and temples were located underground or in caves .

This is the church from the outside .

Inside you can see how it’s been carved out of the rock.

I love the medieval fresco of pilgrims heading to Rome. I need to get one of those hats!

Via romea Germanica Sutri

Sutri has s nice community feel to it.

Kids play in the main square before dinner time.

I found a nice family restaurant with home style cooking away from the main square, Il Buco del Salvatore.

Time to go to bed – my sleep last night was interrupted by itchy arms from my adventure yesterday .

Tomorrow I’m walking to the hill town of Formello from where you can see the suburbs of Rome.