We spent our last day in Orvieto exploring the town and learning about it’s history. But before we could get started, we had to figure put where we were going to store our luggage (there was not a baggage check at the train station). We decided to leave our bags at the B&B while we were seeing Orvieto and return to get them later in the afternoon. The only problem with this plan is that the B&B is on the far side of the cliffs from the train station; so, it would be a hefty 1+ hour walk up the cliff, through town, and back down the cliff to get to the train station. No Problem, we’ve walked farther 🙂
We dropped the car off at Hurtz across from the train station (at the bottom of the cliff) and decided to ride the funicular car to the top. Once at the top, we took a quick right turn out of the station to find St. Patrick’s Well. This was pretty cool. It is a very deep water well that uses a double helix form to reach the bottom and return to the top without running into oncoming traffic. The walk down was easy until we got to the bottom and looked up… Narf!
After the well, we found Orvieto’s main fortezza (fortress). The town has turned it into a park with green spaces and benches, where locals and tourists can hangout and take in the surrounding views.
From here, we continued our walk through town up to the Duomo. The facade of the Duomo was primarily green and white striped with magnificent artistry on the front. The main works on the front were done as intricate marble carvings and specifically detailed mosaics. Unfortunately, due to religious services, we were not able to enter the Cathedral. We can only imagine what we would have found.
Across the street from the Duomo is where our Orvieto Underground tour met. From here we walked down the side of the cliff to a small cave opening in the side. Here we entered and proceeded a few feet in where it was explained to us that most of the real estate (homes and businesses) in Orvieto still come with their own underground space. Some of these ‘cellars’ are only one level, while their neighbor may have three levels. From here, we proceeded deeper into the cave to additional rooms that were used once used for crushing olives to oil and grapes to wine, as well as functioning as a workshop. We then left this cave and continued farther down the cliff to another cave opening where we found several more rooms. Many of these rooms were once contacted to kitchens above and housed pigeons that are still a kitchen delicacy today.
Once the tour was completed, it was time to collect our bags and catch the train. So, it was down the cliff to the B&B to pick up the bags, up the cliff while carrying the bags, across town, down the cliff, and into the station.
Until Rome, Caio!