What nature has denied for defense, man's ingenuity has solved: this is what we read on a plaque placed at the entrance of the St. Patrick's wellA masterpiece of Renaissance engineering that represents one of the major attractions of OrvietoIt's located just steps from the funicular station that takes you up the cliff, specifically to Piazza Cahen. Along with the Albornoz Fortress, it welcomes those who arrive in the city, eager to explore its depths.
How St. Patrick's Well was born
After the "sack of Rome", carried out by the Landsknechts, Pope Clement VII He fled to nearby Orvieto, which, thanks to its location, represented a safe refuge. That fortress, with its seemingly impregnable appearance, however, required a water supply in case of siege or calamity. It was for this reason that the pontiff commissioned the construction of a well to his trusted architect. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger He began work on his opera in 1527, to be completed ten years later. The excavations in the tuff were very accurate, because while they reached the current depth of almost 54 meters They also encountered some Etruscan tombs. A small mistake would have compromised the entire structure. But Sangallo's true intuition was the design of two spiral staircases independent: one for the descent and one for the ascent. His ingenuity was probably inspired by the architectural system of the staircase of the Villa del Belvedere in Vatican.
A brilliant intuition becomes reality
The well, initially named as “Well of the Fortress”, had been conceived of large dimensions. With its diameter of 13 meters it certainly did not offer the possibility of drawing on water using the classic method of a bucket hanging from a rope. It was therefore necessary to delegate this task to pack animals, which, once they reached the bottom, stopped on the small bridge where they were loaded with water bottles. Thanks to Sangallo's helical system, the mules never met, and the two streams could circulate freely at any time without interfering. Even the wide steps, 248 per ramp, with their slight slope they were designed to facilitate passage. The lighting was facilitated by the presence of 72 windows and from the skylight located at the top of the monument. When you enter the well, you immediately realize that every sense is inevitably involved.
A journey into other dimensions
Visiting it today gives the sensation of reaching the darkest and most fascinating soul of the city. Seeing faces appear from the windows that never meet again fuels the suggestion of being in another or more dimensions. Perhaps as many as the layers of history that have been geologically traversed. And, as in a work of Escher, you feel like an explorer in a an almost intimate journey that interpenetrates multiple worlds, from light to darkness. It is no coincidence that the well was briefly called "St. Patrick's Purgatory”. An obvious connection to the legendary cave Irish, where the saint was supposed, by Christ's will, to show the infernal abyss of the afterlife to the most skeptical believers. Another place in Orvieto, then, that carries an aura of sacredness. Where the gaze, rising, finds, in what may appear from the depths like a star, a possible path to spiritual peace.
