Main attractions :: Orvieto
Perugia :: Assisi
:: Gubbio :: Spoleto
:: Todi :: Montefalco
& Bevagna :: Il lago Trasimeno
Orvieto, an ancient Etruscan city, nestles on top of a dramatic cliff made of yellow tufa
that dominates the valley of river Paglia. All around, a wide agricultural region stretches
on the flat surrounding the river bed. Underground cavities are dug under nearly every single
building, perfect cellars for the famous local wine. In such cavities, archeologists discovered
a remarkable number of valuable ceramics produced from the Middle Ages on. Those finds prompted
the city to recover its heritage of ceramics manufacturing, nowadays one of the most characterizing
handicraft production in town.
Orvieto, settled on the cliff, is connected to and integrated with a twin, underground
city, obtained by the same gigantic tuff rock in the same time span: walkways, trenches
with hydraulic works and wells dating back to the Etruscan age are more than a thousand.
The bulk of these remains was built by the Etruscan, thus retaining a great archeological
value and historical interest.
After the fall of the Roman empire, to which the town had been annexed since the 3rd century
BC, the cliff of Orvieto witnessed numerous takeovers, due to its strategic and defended
position. Theatre of disputes between the Goths and the Byzantines fighting over possession
of the city, Orvieto later became the headquarter of a Lombard duke.
Then, it eventually fell under the control of the papal state and experienced the apex of
its development in the 13th century.
During this period, Orvieto witnessed a sparkling building activity,
evenly split among residential, public and sacred, the latter
category exemplary represented by the world-famous Cathedral:
dating back to 1263 AD, this is undoubtedly the most important
architectonic testimony of the city, with the wonderful gothic
facade and the beautiful inside, rich of decorations and painted
chapels.
The other main attractions located in the ancient nucleus are the incredibly deep Well
of San Patrizio, constructed in year 1527 on a plan of Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane, Palazzo
dei Sette (1300 AD), Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo (12th century), in which the Popular
Board meetings were held, the churches of Sant'Andrea (12th century), S.Domenico (13th century),
S.Giovenale (11th century) and Palazzo Soliano (1262 AD). The inside of this palace houses
two interesting museums: the Museum of the Work of the Dome and the Museum of Modern Art.
Worth of note are also the Mancinelli Theatre (1866), the already mentioned Underground
City (Città Sotterranea) and the Necropoli del Crocefisso del Tufo, important Etruscan
remains.
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The cathedral (Duomo)
Etruscal grotto
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