The Duomo was spectacular both inside and out.
We really loved Orvieto, the medieval town elevated above the surrounding area. Our Airbnb was perfectly in the center of the village, with excellent access to historical sites, groceries, cafes and pharmacies. We were witness to the Corpus Domini celebration including a parade and performance. Unfortunately, Robin broke her wrist here, but did receive prompt medical care.
Narrow streets of Orvieto
Entrance to our Airbnb
Building just behind our Airbnb in the Piazza del Popolo
Umbricelli with pistacios
Tagliatelle with asparagus
A glass of Orvieto Classico
The Incredible Duomo of Orvieto
The duomo construction began in 1290 and went through many building phases, completing in 1591.
Exterior sculpture on front facade of duomo
The Necropoli of Etruscan Tombs
We enjoyed a lovely walk one morning, seeing very few people on the trail to the tombs and back around to the center. The tombs (over 200) date back to the 8th century B.C., so close to 2800 years ago. You can even read the names inscribed on the headway of the tombs.
It was a very pleasant walk down this trail.
Overhead view of the tombs
Small museum displays relics found in the tombs.
Name inscribed reads from right to left.
Corpus Domini
This festival was fortunately during our short visit to Orvieto. It is a historic and religious event with a historical parade of medieval costumes.
Interesting characters appearing medieval
There was also an evening performance
The Albornoz Fortress and St. Patrick’s Well
One of the benefits of longer stays, is the opportunity to see more of the less popular sites. We took a pleasant walk through the Albornoz Fortress, majestically situated above the surrounding region. The St. Patrick’s Well was built in 1527 and is 53 meters deep. It was built with 2 spiral staircases, permitting mule-drawn carts carrying water bags to descend on one side and ascend on the other without colliding. There are nearly 250 steps on each staircase.
The well entrance
Orvieto Underground
We took an interesting tour of the Orvieto Underground. It was a large area where homeowners could store wine and also keep house pigeons. They would be able to sell the eggs and pigeon meat. They had no overhead costs as the pigeons would leave, feed themselves and always return.
Pigeon hole nests in the walls and stairway to enter the home above ground
” The Accident”
We made it to the top of the Torre del Moro, the clocktower built in the year 1200 in the center of town. We were admiring the view from the observation deck, which was totally flat on 3 sides, but the 4th side had a few steps down. Robin was filming the glorious view when she missed a step, almost caught herself, then went down hard and broke her wrist. I helped her down 170 or so steps to the elevator, and took it the remainder of the way down. We had an ambulance called and rode to the local hospital. Robin had multiple Xrays and got a cast put on, but there are no real pain meds in Italy, just Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen. At our next destination, Portugal, she would get surgery to place a metal plate in her wrist.
Before
View from the top.
After
Robin is one of the strongest people I know and has a extremely high pain threshold. She was amazing during and after this traumatic experience. The story continues in our next location…
Randy and Robin's Roving Retirement 