Some notes about Orvieto : 

...................,We thought of all the small towns in Italy that we had visited and decided that we would look for an apartment in Orvieto.

We chose Orvieto for many reasons: location, culture, history, food. Little did we know at the time that what ultimately would endear us to the town were the people who lived there, the Orvietans themselves.

 All we wanted was a quiet hill town where the "old Italy" that we had come to know and love was still alive. It had to be a town that McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken had not yet invaded.

 It also had to be a place from which we could easily visit other cities in Italy, such as Siena, Florence, and of course Rome.

Location was uppermost in our minds. Orvieto sits almost half way between Rome and Florence right on the main train line: one and a half hours to Rome; two hours to Florence. But that isn't all. When you stay in Orvieto, the hidden and wonderful treasures of Umbria and Tuscany are in easy reach. Towns like Pienza and Cortona, or the spectacular dying city of Civita di Bagnoregio are in your back yard.

But the beauty of Orvieto is enough to satisfy anyone on a short visit. It sits high on a tufa plateau, a perfect fortress against invading armies. In fact, the best way to arrive at the historical center of Orvieto is to take the funicular up from the train station.

Founded by the Etruscans many centuries before the Christian era, it still holds many remnants from that far away time, including a wonderful and eerie Etruscan burial city. In addition, the Etruscans carved a city of caves under the city itself. These caves are now known at Orvieto Sottoterraneo (Orvieto Underground) and the inquisitive visitor can still walk through part of that carved out city.

For me the most beautiful part of Orvieto is the medieval section which in many ways remains the same as it was in the eleventh and twelth centuries. I always look for an apartment in this section of the city, hoping I'll also get a view of the spectacular Umbrian fields that surround the raised city. The beautiful cobblestone streets, the ancient palazzos, the ramparts that once protected the city from encroaching armies are still intact. And in this section of the city is my favorite church: San Giovenale. As the people in the medieval section of the city are quick to remind the admiring visitor: "San Giovenale was the duomo before they built the new duomo (12th century)."

There are many sights right within Orvieto that you could spend many weeks exploring. There is the Rocca Albornoz, the papal castle built for one of the popes as a fortified escape when things got too hot for him in Rome. Unfortunately the Orvietans tore it down when they were able to get free of papal dominancy. But the remains make a very nice city park.

Next to the Rocca is the Pozzo di San Patrizio, the well of St. Patrick, a remarkable engineering feat from the sixteenth century, built on the orders of Pope Clement VII. You can climb down the 180 feet on one of the two intertwining staircases that never meet. The well was designed so that the donkeys could use one staircase for descending and another for ascending with water. Don't miss a trip to the bottom of the Pozzo!   ...more >>>
 

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