"Tall and strange city", as Orvieto has often been defined. A business card that already suggests its uniqueness. The tuff cliff on which it stands, the well of San Patrizio, the Orvieto underground. These are some of the fascinating features of the town shadow.
Orvieto in one day
Discovering Orvieto in one day is possible. Of course it will not be an exhaustive visit but it allows you to focus your attention on some of the most salient aspects of the place. Before describing an itinerary by relevant stages, it is necessary to make a premise. The one useful for contextualizing and broadly understanding where we are. Orvieto is a city with a thousand-year history, whose origins have Etruscan roots. Built on top of a tuff cliff, even today it can be observed in all its extraordinary “precarious beauty”.
What gives the city a magical aspect, between earth and sky, is at the same time an unstable element. Although the equilibrium has persisted for about three thousand years, the rock is still subject to landslides today. And it was through a landslide that an important discovery was made. That of the Orvieto underground, of the underground city. This is definitely one of the unmissable visits but certainly not the first thing you come across. As soon as you arrive in the town you visually impact the Duomo.
What most catches the eye is the lively polychromy of the facade denoted by the marbles and the intense mosaic apparatus. To better appreciate it, it is good to sit on the stone seats in front of it. From here you can enjoy an excellent view of the square, the pavement of which echoes the decoration of the facade. If this constitutes the center of Orvieto, we must not forget the well of St. Patrick. It is encountered by proceeding towards the heart of the city, near the Cahen car parks for the funicular. When stopping here, don't forget to visit the municipal gardens as well, whose name perhaps leaves little to understand its peculiarity.
Stages not to be missed
Assuming a walk that leads from the Cahen car park towards the center, first point of visit is the well of San Patrizio. Named after the resemblance to the Irish well in which St. Patrick used to retire in prayer. Construction is an engineering work worthy of attention. Designed by Giuliano da Sangallo the Younger to whom it was entrusted by Pope Clement. The well was born as a consequence of the sack of Rome in 1527 and was to be used to guarantee water supplies in the event of a siege. Inside helical stairs lead to a depth of 62 meters. Particular the structure of the ramps: walking through them one gets the impression of meeting with those who proceed in the opposite direction. In truth, the same were, and are, organized separately to allow the mules, who once traveled them, to have free passage.
The whole is punctuated by 72 windows and a total of 258 steps. Coming out of the well, the next and worthwhile stop is the municipal gardens. Here is the Albornoz fortress which offers a prestigious and inevitable panoramic point. Finally, continuing towards the center, in addition to an accurate observation of the Duomo, you can't help but delve into the Orvieto underground. A guide service will facilitate the knowledge of the intertwining of tunnels and hidden rooms under the city. Used for various uses, from the Etruscans to more recent times, the Orvieto underground is a real surprise. Used as a quarry, there is here a mill for the production of oil, the dovecote and more in general the reproduction of underground working spaces. Orvieto is a magical city, not only for its lofty position but because it is the guardian of secrets that from its summit descend under the earth, hiding from the eyes of most.
