Vino Con Vino: Orvieto

Perhaps our favorite of the hill towns we visited was Orvieto, a place that has been populated sinced Etruscan times (starting about 500 B.C.E.). Orvieto's position on a steep bluff of volcanic rock made it virtually impregnable throughout its pre-20th century history. The only vulnerability the city had was a potential siege, which made creating wells and storing food important for its inhabitants. Much of what we saw related to these aspects of the city's history.

Our first stop, however, was Orvieto's famous Duomo (Cathedral). Begun in 1290, the Duomo is quite impressive both inside and out. Our research indicated it was worth paying to enter, so we made an exception to our general rule not to do so. The jury is still out on that call, but the photos show how beautiful it was regardless of the cost analysis.

After the Duomo we took a fascinating underground tour where we learned a lot about how the people from the Etruscan era to the middle ages used the area under the city to survive and even thrive. One of the most amazing things was an Etruscan well, which literally was dug from the city down hundreds of feet through rock until it reached water. The process of digging such a well sounds harrowing given its relatively small size and extreme depth.

The caves we saw were mostly private caves from the middle ages and included an olive oil mill, and places where families kept pigeons.

Why pigeons? The pigeons were used to provide food, especially in the case of a siege. The caves had an opening to the outside, and pigeons flew in on their own and nested in the indentations in the walls as seen in the photo above. They could then be collected and eaten in a time of need.

After the underground tour, we had a fantastic lunch (of course) before setting out to see two of the major wells in the city from the middle ages. Fortunately, the technology had improved significantly since the Etruscan period. First, we visited the Pozzo della Cava, an archaeological complex that includes not just wells from the Etruscan and Papal period, but also Etruscan tombs, kilns used to make Renaissance lusterware, and a wine cellar. Quite a fascinating site.

Perhaps even more impressive was St. Patrick's Well, built between 1527 and 1537. With stairs designed in the form of a double helix, which allowed teams of donkey's to descend by one set of stairs and return by the other creating a continuous flow, the well is huge: 174 feet deep and 43 feet across at its base. An amazing feat for almost 500 years ago!