Mechanical filters using cantilever springs as elastic elements have been developed for the seismic isolation system of the VIRGO gravitational wave detector. A two-stage suspension has been built in order to study how the attenuation performances of individual filters combine when the filters are cascaded. An attenuation greater than or equal to 80 dB in the vertical direction and greater than or equal to 110 dB in the horizontal direction has been attained for frequencies above 10 Hz. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.