Visit to Orvieto: from Piazza Duomo to the Etruscan necropolis

At the top of the tufaceous cliff, which rises suddenly from the gentle lines of the surrounding countryside, Orvieto presents itself to the traveler as a city of discovery.

Orvieto - Photo by Valter Cirillo
Orvieto - Photo by Valter Cirillo

Perched on a large tuff cliff, which suddenly rises from the gentle lines of the surrounding countryside, Orvieto opens his heart into Piazza del Duomo, an evocative space, surrounded by ancient buildings and dominated by the thirteenth-century shape of the Cathedral, whose wonderfully sculpted façade shines with mosaics and polychrome marble.

Inside there are pictorial masterpieces, such asThe stories of the Antichrist","The Resurrection of the Flesh","The Reprobate and the Elect" and the "Universal judgment" (in the Brizio Chapel) Of Luca Signorelli, he Angels on the sails of the ceiling of Fra Angelico.

The beauty of Orvieto is amplified by the presence of two Etruscan necropolises, located at the base of the cliff (San Martino-Orvieto Scalo locality) and by the underground part of the city, expanded during the Middle Ages and used for different purposes, until it became an authentic agglomeration carved into the mountain.

What to see in Orvieto

Il Duomo

Il Orvieto Cathedral it is a true masterpiece of Gothic architecture and is an Italian national monument. The construction of the church is due to the Pope Nicholas IV. The works began in 1290 with the intention of merging two already existing churches. Inside the Cathedral is kept the Corporal of the miracle of Bolsena, which was followed by the celebration of Corpus Christi. The facade was only completed at the end of the XNUMXth century, with the construction of the lateral spiers by Ippolito Scalza. Of great importance are the mosaics on the facade which, however, due to numerous restorations, have lost their original shapes and style over time.

Orvieto Cathedral - Photo by Christian Hardi
Orvieto Cathedral – Photo by Christian Hardi

2 St. Patrick's Well

Il St. Patrick's well it is located in a panoramic position in the center of Orvieto. It was built at the behest of Pope Clement VII, who took refuge in Orvieto during the sack of Rome of 1527. The project was entrusted to the Florentine Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. The works ended in 1537. With a circular section, it is sixty-two meters deep and thirteen meters wide. Two spiral staircases spiral around the shaft of the well, designed in such a way that they run one on top of the other without communicating with each other. Each staircase has two hundred and forty-eight very comfortable steps, easy to descend even for beasts of burden. At the bottom of the barrel a small bridge connects the two stairs. The external part of the well, consists of a large and low cylindrical construction, is decorated with Farnesian lilies of Pope Paul III, who succeeded Clement VII. At the entrance, the plaque “quod natura munimento inviderat industria adiecit” (“what nature did not give, industry provided”) celebrates the power of human engineering capable of making up for natural deficiencies such as the lack of water in the city.

Pope Clement VII never saw the work completed, which was completed by Simone Moscow in 1543, when Paul III sat on the papal throne. The well of the Rocca, this was its name in the beginning, only in the nineteenth century took on the proverbial name of San Patrizio, when the fortress had lost its military function. The name of the Well has no connection with local characters, but refers to the Irish abyss where St. Patrick used to pray. During the construction of the well, numerous archaeological finds dating back to the Etruscan era were found.

Interior of St. Patrick's Well - Photo Dream Grand Tour
Interior of St. Patrick's Well – Photo Dream Grand Tour

3 Well of the Cava / Pozzo della Cava

The complex, with entrance in via della Cava, winds beneath the oldest district of Orvieto. Divided into nine underground areas, it is rich in Etruscan, medieval and Renaissance finds, brought to light only recently, after almost four centuries of abandonment.

The deep well, from which the entire site takes its name, was dug, using a pre-existing Etruscan well, by Pope Clement VII who, having taken refuge in Orvieto in 1527, ordered its construction to be able to draw spring water in the event of a siege. Its structure has two merged parts: one with a circular section and the other, smaller and dating back to the XNUMXth-XNUMXth century BC, rectangular. Next to the well it is possible to continue the route with a visit to an Etruscan cistern, some butti, a medieval cellar and the remains of ancient rock tombs. Also interesting are some rooms used in the Middle Ages and Renaissance to produce ceramics. During the Christmas period, an evocative nativity scene is created in the cavity of the well, the display of which, different every year, is always notable in its artistic execution and historical setting.

Pozzo della Cava - Photo Orvietoviva
Pozzo della Cava – Photo Orvietoviva

4 Etruscan necropolis “Tuff Crucifix”

The necropolis extends along the northern slope of the tufaceous cliff on which Orvieto, the Etruscan Velzna, stands. Discovered in the nineteenth century, it represents an extraordinary document of Etruscan history and culture. His visit finds an essential complement to that of the National Archaeological Museum and the Claudio Faina Museum in Orvieto, which house numerous finds, especially the rich ceramic kits. The necropolis was used from the XNUMXth to the XNUMXrd century BC; the planning of the necropolis in blocks dates back to the period of maximum development (VI-V century BC), defined by orthogonal streets and occupied by tombs of the "cube" type, according to a rigid arrangement that reflects an egalitarian social organization . Each burial was reserved for individual families identified by the name engraved on the architrave, which reveals the presence of foreign citizens in Orvieto, which was increasingly cosmopolitan. Forms of ostentation of the wealth achieved by a large layer of citizens are, finally, expressed by the luxurious accompanying objects, purchased on the Greek-Oriental market, many of which are today visible in the National Archaeological Museum and the Claudio Faina Museum in Orvieto.

5 Moro Tower

An experience not to be missed is the climb to the top of the Torre del Moro, where your gaze can range freely beyond the city rooftops, over the wonderful countryside. The tower is located in the center of Orvieto, along the city street.

At the end of the thirteenth century Orvieto had a new urban layout and placed the Palazzo dei Sette in a strategically central position with the so-called Pope's tower, 47 meters high and oriented almost perfectly according to the four cardinal points. Its imposing dimensions allowed, in fact, the visual domination of the then vast territory of the Orvieto state. In the 1865th century the tower was so named by Raffaele di Sante, known as il Moro, who also gave his name to the Palazzo Gualtiero below, owned by him, and to the entire district. In 1866, at a height of eighteen metres, the distributing basin of the new aqueduct was placed in the Moro tower and, following the restorations of XNUMX, the mechanical clock and two civic bells were installed. The smaller bell came from the Sant'Andrea tower and the larger one from the Palazzo del Popolo.

The Palazzo dei Sette with the Moro tower, recently restored and used as a cultural centre, belonged to the ancient Della Terza family, then it was owned by the Papacy, seat of the Seven, by the Pope and it seems that Antonio da Sangallo also lived there.

Moro Tower
Moro Tower

6 Coelli Palace

A stone's throw from the Duomo stands, in a strategic and privileged position, easily accessible, the elegant and monumental Palazzo Coelli, home of the Cassa di Risparmio di Orvieto Foundation. The building, which belonged over the centuries to illustrious Orvieto families, is the result of the aggregation in successive periods of different volumes which today constitute a refined and multipurpose location where taste and comfort come together in an inseparable combination. The ancient noble residence, completely renovated and expanded, is now also a qualified functional conference center for the organization of any type of event: workshops, art exhibitions, meetings, conferences and events of cultural and corporate interest.

7 Luigi Mancinelli Theatre

The theater of Orvieto, important from both a historical and artistic point of view, is located in the center of the town, a few steps from the Duomo and not far from the main square. The visit is recommended both for the beauty of the theater and for the rich theatrical and musical season. A theatrical activity in Orvieto has been documented since the sixteenth century with the Accademia dei Giovani, also known as the Accademia dei Confusi, which met in the upper room of the city's Palazzo del Popolo. But in reality dissatisfaction with a theater that was not very functional and ambition pushed some to find alternative solutions to the academy theatre. In the eighteenth century the Gualtiero family created a private theater in the Villa del Corniolo, in Porano, today Villa Paolina. But for a real theater we had to wait until 1863, the year of its inauguration. Designed by Giuseppe Santini, the Mancinelli theater was inaugurated in 1863. In the same year Annibale Angelini was entrusted with the decoration of the internal rooms with grotesques, putti and festoons, taken from the classical tradition. Giuliano Corsini took care of the stucco decorations, while the Roman Cesare Fracassini took care of the figurative painting, including the curtain, which he finished in 1886. For the inauguration, the opera "Favorita and Mars" was staged together with the ballets “The Whites and the Blacks” and “Pedrilla”. The hall has the classic shape of the Italian theatre, with a horseshoe plan, four tiers of boxes and a loggia. In 1921 it was dedicated to the Orvieto musician Luigi Mancinelli (1848-1921). Today it is presented in its original form with a capacity of five hundred and sixty seats. It has always had a central function in the city's culture, confirmed by the versatility of the activities that take place within it: congresses, conferences, exhibitions, conferences and meetings with artists, but also seminars on the dissemination and study of cinematographic art.

Luigi Mancinelli Theatre, Orvieto
Luigi Mancinelli Theatre, Orvieto

8 Orvieto underground

The particular geological nature of the boulder on which Orvieto stands has allowed the inhabitants to excavate, over the course of approximately 2500 years, an incredible number of cavities that extend, overlap and intersect beneath the modern urban fabric. These are a precious reservoir of historical and archaeological information. From the central Piazza Duomo in Orvieto, in front of the Cathedral, at the Tourist Information Office, guided tours of "Orvieto Underground" depart every day at different times. The visit, which lasts about an hour, takes place inside one of the most interesting and complex underground complexes in the city. Qualified staff accompanies visitors to discover the traces left by the ancient inhabitants of Orvieto, on an easy and enjoyable route. Here, the play of light and shadow that cuts through the age-old darkness of the subsoil reveals deep and very narrow wells with which the Etruscans chased the underground layers in search of water, large stone millstones and long lines of tunnels.

Orvieto underground

Museums of Orvieto

9 National archaeological museum of Orvieto

It is set up on the ground floor of the medieval Palazzo Martino IV, one of the three papal palaces behind the Orvieto cathedral. It collects the oldest and most recently discovered materials and constitutes, together with the Faina Foundation museum - located on the opposite side of the Piazza del Duomo - a synthesis of archaeological knowledge about Orvieto. Being linked to the research and study activity of the Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Umbria and the scientific and cultural institutions operating in the territory, the national museum shows the results of archaeological research and is therefore constantly evolving. Inaugurated in 1982, the museum displays materials found in the area up to the XNUMXth century previously kept in the archaeological section of the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. To this collection, made up of several thousand objects, were added the wall paintings from the Golini tombs of Porano, until then preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Florence, as well as a large collection of the most ancient finds in the city (urban necropolis of Crocifisso del Tufo and Cannicella, temples of Belvedere and via San Leonardo) and in the surrounding area (necropolis of Porano, Castellonchio and neighboring localities) reorganized topographically according to modern museographic criteria. The finds recovered thanks to recent or ongoing excavations are exhibited according to a rotation plan which allows the continuous results of the research to be appreciated.

10 Museum of medieval and Renaissance majolica from Orvieto

The Museum is created in the premises of an ancient furnace. The permanent collection mainly consists of waste from two kilns active in via della Cava from the second half of the fourteenth century to the mid-sixteenth century; the same is enriched with majolica acquired in later periods and having links with the furnaces themselves.

The collection has many pieces and owes its extraordinary nature to the productive continuity of the Orvieto potters. Until the mid-fourteenth century, the city of Orvieto was considered a center for the importation of majolica and was therefore considered imported.

Many Renaissance majolica exhibited, however, in Italian and other national museums with attributions to production centers such as Deruta, Faenza, Montelupo, Gubbio, to name the most important, in fact present iconographic references typical of the Orvieto area such as coats of arms of nobles or corporations. This alone should have been enough to prove their origin from the Orvieto laboratories, but some cultural stereotypes, oriented or dictated by the antiques market, prevented a calm attribution of provenance. Today, the concept that several production companies in the same period offered the same product, emphasizing excellence more than anything else, is commonly accepted; if it is undisputed that Orvieto's production reached its highest levels in the fourteenth century, we tend to say that it was then surpassed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by Faenza and Deruta. However, if you carefully examine the majolica in this collection, especially the kiln waste, it is clear that the quality has remained very high.

In the museum it is possible to visit ten rooms, starting from the Conference Room which in the Middle Ages and Renaissance was used for painting and firing ceramics. In the Sala della Cisterna you can still see the cistern from which water was drawn for making ceramics. Through a channel dug into the rock and a probable pipe, the water reached the turning points. In the Furnace Hall it is possible to visit a real furnace that has remained almost intact. This furnace is the only one from the fifteenth century still existing in the world. In the Fourteenth Century Room, the ceramics on display here, almost all of which are waste from the kiln, are those that have always been considered Orvieto production. The most important pieces of the collection are displayed in the Hall of Symbols. In the Sala delle Truffette we begin to see how some types of majolica were produced in a repetitive, almost serial manner, making it clear that more than an artisan workshop, the kiln was a real factory. In addition to the mugs, there are globular-body containers called truffette. In the Sala delle Zaffere there are testimonies of all possible types of zaffers: from the classic ones, to the diluted ones, ending with the so-called damask and porcelain techniques imitating oriental artefacts. In the Hall of Bowls, in addition to the numerous bowls, particular majolica are preserved. In the Renaissance Hall there are more kiln artefacts which, although found in large numbers in the wells of Orvieto, were attributed to the artisan workshops of other cities. Typologies from Viterbo or Upper Lazio, Deruta, Faenza, Tuscany or other unlikely origins such as graffiti on glazed engobes of the Ferrara or Venetian type are visible. In the Sala delle Tazzine with its over four hundred cups, it is the most evident evidence of the industrial production of the furnace in via della Cava.

Museum of medieval and Renaissance majolica from Orvieto
Museum of medieval and Renaissance majolica from Orvieto

11 Museum of the Cathedral (MODO)

Not just a single museum but a true system, that of the Opera del Duomo of Orvieto, has as its fulcrum one of the most precious assets of humanity's artistic heritage: the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, which preserves within it the Cappella Nova or di San Brizio, pictorial masterpiece by Luca Signorelli. From the heart of the Cathedral, the visit through the MODO offices unfolds following the common thread of the history of the city and its Cathedral, retraced through the precious artistic collections that the Fabbriceria has preserved for more than eight centuries. The most conspicuous collection is in the Papal palaces, adjacent to the cathedral, where works by Coppo di Marcovaldo, Arnolfo di Cambio, Simone Martini, Luca Signorelli and Niccolò Circignani are exhibited. On the first floor (Palazzo Soliano) the collection of Emilio Greco (1913-1995) is housed, consisting of plastic and graphic works created between 1947 and 1991.

In the thirteenth-century church of the convent of Sant'Agostino, the second location, the sculptural group of the Annunciation by Francesco Mochi is currently on display, located in the center of the apse, as well as the series of Apostles and Saints created on the model of various artists, including Giambologna and Ippolito Scalza, and removed from the cathedral at the end of the XNUMXth century.
The visit route is completed by the chapel of San Brizio inside the Cathedral itself. Built by the mid-fifteenth century, it is among the highest examples of Italian painting for the cycle of frescoes with the Last Judgement, which entirely decorates it, partly by Beato Angelico (1447-49) and partly by Luca Signorelli (1499- 1504).

Museum of the Cathedral (MODO), Orvieto
Museum of the Cathedral (MODO), Orvieto

12 Emilio Greco Museum

Located on the Piazza del Duomo in Orvieto, on the right of the Cathedral and in its immediate proximity, Palazzo Soliano is the largest and most impressive of the pontifical residences in Orvieto. It was built at the request of Pope Boniface VIII Caetani (1294-1303).
Formerly the historic seat of the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, since September 2008 it has returned to the center of the MODO exhibition itinerary, of which it represents the starting point, to host on the ground floor the
Emilio Greco collection (1913-1995), donated by the artist to the city of Orvieto, to which he was linked artistically and humanly. In fact, since 1970, the majestic medieval portals of the cathedral have welcomed the large bronze doors made by Greco between 1962 and 1964. With this extraordinary testimony of the renewal of sacred art in the second half of the twentieth century, the journey towards the most famous icons from the collection of the Opera del Duomo in the Papal Palaces.
The works exhibited in the evocative rooms of Palazzo Soliano range from 1947 to 1990 and mark the most significant stages in the Sicilian artist's career: from the Wrestler, exhibited in London on the occasion of the 1948 Olympics, to the famous plaster cast of the Monument to Pope John XXIII made between 1965 and 1967.

Emilio Greco Museum, Orvieto
Emilio Greco Museum, Orvieto

13 “Claudio Faina” Museum and Civic Museum

The Claudio Faina museum and the civic archaeological museum are located in the Faina palace, located in Piazza Duomo in Orvieto.
Built in the mid-nineteenth century, the palace was built by reusing the structures of the Monaldeschi house, one of the most important families in Orvieto since the thirteenth century. The family collection initially housed in the Perugia residence was moved to the palace, purchased in the mid-nineteenth century by Count Claudio Faina senior. The building has been a museum since 1954, when the last heir Claudio junior left all his properties in his will to the Municipality of Orvieto to finance the "Foundation for the Claudio Faina Museum".

The exhibition itinerary aims to illustrate the stages of formation of the collection, from the original nucleus established starting from 1864 by Count Mauro according to the collecting guidelines of the time up to the collection increased by the heir Eugenio who limited the acquisitions to finds from the Orvieto area and promoted the formation of a civic museum rather than enriching the family collection.

From the gallery located on the second floor of the building you can admire a particular perspective of the Duomo. From the entrance in Piazza Duomo you enter the Civic Archaeological Museum, located on the ground floor of the building, entirely dedicated to the finds from the excavations of the city and the territory of Orvieto, which testify to the exceptional flowering of Volsinii, the Etruscan Orvieto. The architectural terracottas from the Belvedere temple are on display among the productions of the highest artistic quality created during the XNUMXth century BC by the Volsini workshops. Directly inspired by classical Greek art, they constituted the decorative and covering apparatus of sacred buildings. The famous statuette of Venus comes from the sacred area of ​​Cannicella, a sanctuary complex within the necropolis located to the south of the city, and from the necropolis of the Crocifisso del Tufo some stone cippi are exposed, the markers of the tombs generally bearing the name of the deceased. Materials collected during the nineteenth century from the Orvieto area are illustrated, including the sarcophagus of Torre San Severo, with sculpted scenes depicting episodes mediated by Greek mythology, of funerary inspiration.

The Faina collection is arranged on the main floor and on the second floor of the building in a layout renovated in 1996. On the main floor, which preserves the nineteenth-century decoration, the finds recovered or purchased by the Fainas are arranged, with particular attention to Mauro's collecting activity , especially as regards the numismatic collection of coins, the vast majority of which are Roman from the Republican and Imperial era, are displayed in rigorous chronological sequence.

On the second floor the finds are ordered according to a typological and chronological criterion: from pre-protohistoric materials to Attic ceramics, while some rooms are entirely dedicated to Etruscan ceramics.

"Claudio Faina" Museum and Civic Museum, Orvieto
“Claudio Faina” Museum and Civic Museum, Orvieto

Other places of interest in Orvieto

14 Abbey of San Severo and Martirio

Interesting building built in the early Middle Ages and then rebuilt in the 1220th century by the Benedictines. The French order of the Premonstratensians, who succeeded the Benedictines in XNUMX. he expanded the Abbey northwards, in a Romanesque-Gothic transition style.

Abbey of San Severo and Martirio, Orvieto
Abbey of San Severo and Martirio, Orvieto

15 Complex of Papal Palaces

Papal residences built by Popes Urban IV and Martin IV. The first (1264) was in Romanesque style transitioning to Gothic and the second (1284) was inspired by French Gothic.

16 Former Church of Sant'Agostino in Orvieto

Former Church of S. Agostino with richly decorated Gothic portal from 1300. Eighteenth-century interior with side altars.

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Information about Anna Bruno 123 Articles
Professional journalist, former reporter for "La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno", she specializes in travel, food, music and technologies. She is co-founder of the communication and digital PR agency FullPress Agency, she is the managing director of FullTravel.it, a travel magazine and of "VerdeGusto", as well as two other magazines. She is the author of “Digital Travel” and “Digital Food”, the fourth and fifth books respectively, for Flaccovio Editore. Digital Travel & Food Specialist, she is a consultant and teacher in training courses and is the delegate for the SOUTH and Islands of the Italian Travel Press (ITP).

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