Civita di Bagnoregio is labeled with the suggestive name of the city that dies: every year the spur of tuff which is clinging thins by about 7 cm making the city descend into the valley; moreover the progressive erosion of the hill and the surrounding valley have given rise to typical form of the ravines: canyon and spikes that add a sense of loneliness at the view.
The town consists in about fifty houses, of which only a tenth are inhabited, and the impressive cathedral of San Donato in which is preserved the Crocifisso Ligneo; it can be reached only through a concrete bridge (its building dates back to 1965) only on foot. The traffic has always been banned, only in rare exceptions for the 6 residents [estimated 2012] and for commuters; there are exceptions to the crossing with bicycles and motorcycles.

Due to its geographical position and its charming medieval style is an annual destination for many tourists and was frequently used as film sets.

The day of Holy Friday is the most heartfelt round of the town of Civita, when inside the church of San Donato is deposited the holy Crocifisso Ligneo, which is laid on a bier to carry it into the old Holy Friday Procession of Bagnoregio. It is said that the crucifix spoke.

Legend has it that during an epidemic of plague in 1499 about the whole area around Bagnoregio, the crucifix spoke to a pious woman, who went every day in front of the venerated image with his prayers, asking about the quittance of the agony. One day while she prayed to Christ, she heard a voice, and felt reassured that the Lord had answered her prayers and that the plague would soon come to an end, as duly occurred after a few days together with the death of the pious woman.

Not to miss, at Christmas, the nativity scene that traces the vicissitudes of Joseph and Mary through the streets of the village; also on the first sunday of June and the second of September (during the celebrations in honor of Madonna Liberatrice and the Santissimo Crocifisso) is housed in the main square of the old Palio della Tonna (tonna means round in the local dialect), where the districts of Civita challenge each other on the back of a donkey, supported by the cheering of the people.

The old town is a member of the association of the most beautiful villages in Italy.