Ancient Sutri and its fortress protected the road into Etruria from the south, and the site of many battles and sieges with the Romans, who took it finally in 383 BC. In 728 it was the first donation of territory outside Rome to what became the Papal States, and was where popes signed treaties, hide, held synods, and met kings.

The town is gorgeous, but the archeological park, the Roman amphitheatre, temple, and Etruscan tombs cut into the hillside opposite the town below the Villa Savorelli and its gardens are remarkable, and very beautiful.