About 6km west of Civita Castellana, Falerii Novi is the Roman-era successor to the Faliscan city that stood on the plateau now occupied by the old town. After the Romans crushed the final Faliscan revolt in 241 BC, they razed Falerii Veteres and compelled the population to build a new city on the plain — indefensible by design. What survives today is extraordinary: the full circuit of Roman walls, nearly 2km around, with 50 towers and two major gates still standing to considerable height. The walls are made of tufa blocks cut with precision and laid without mortar, and they have barely shifted in two millennia.
Inside the walls, almost nothing remains except farmland, a ruined medieval church, and scattered Roman foundations visible in the grass. This emptiness is part of what makes the place so affecting. The site was partially excavated in the 19th century and again more recently using ground-penetrating radar, which revealed an entire street grid, forum, and theatre still buried under the fields. Access is free and unrestricted. The road from Civita Castellana runs through vineyards and olive groves — the drive itself is a pleasure.