![Orvieto 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Orvieto_1.JPG)
Orvieto () is a city and ''
comune
The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...
'' in the
Province of Terni
The Province of Terni ( it, Provincia di Terni) is the smaller of the two provinces in the Umbria region of Italy, comprising one-third of both the area and population of the region. Its capital is the city of Terni. The province came into being ...
, southwestern
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
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, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large
butte
__NOTOC__
In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...
of volcanic
tuff
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...
. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are completed by defensive walls built of the same stone, called ''tufa''.
History
Etruscan era
The ancient city (''urbs vetus'' in Latin, whence "Orvieto"), populated since
Etruscan __NOTOC__
Etruscan may refer to:
Ancient civilization
*The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy
*Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization
**Etruscan architecture
**Etruscan art
**Etruscan cities
** Etrusca ...
times, has usually been associated with Etruscan
Velzna
Volsinii or Vulsinii ( Etruscan: Velzna or Velusna; Greek: Ouolsinioi, ; ), is the name of two ancient cities of Etruria, one situated on the shore of Lacus Volsiniensis (modern Lago di Bolsena), and the other on the Via Clodia, between Clusium ...
, but some modern scholars differ. Orvieto was certainly a major centre of
Etruscan civilization
The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roughl ...
; the archaeological museum (Museo Claudio Faina e Museo Civico) houses some of the Etruscan artifacts that have been recovered in the immediate area. A tomb in the Orvieto Cannicella
necropolis
A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead".
The term usually im ...
bears the inscription ''mi aviles katacinas'', "I am of Avile Katacina"; the tomb's occupant thus bore an Etruscan-Latin first name,
Aulus
Aulus (abbreviated A.) is one of the small group of common forenames found in the culture of ancient Rome.
The name was traditionally connected with Latin ''aula'', ''olla'', "palace", but this is most likely a false etymology. ''Aulus'' in fact p ...
, and a family name that is believed to be of Celtic origin (derived from "Catacos"). This interesting artifact might show the complexity of ethnic relations in ancient Italy, and how such relations could be peaceful. Also in the area is the
Golini Tomb Golini Tomb is an Etruscan tomb in Orvieto, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory ...
, which was constructed in the fourth century BCE. Its wall paintings depict a funeral banquet, giving some insight into the real-life gatherings held after the deaths of aristocratic Etruscans. The pictures include scenes of servants preparing for the feast in various ways.
Roman and post-Roman eras
Orvieto was annexed by Rome in the third century BC. Because of its site on a high, steep bluff of tuff, a volcanic rock, the city was virtually impregnable. After the collapse of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
its defensible site gained new importance: the episcopal seat was transferred from
Bolsena
Bolsena is a town and ''comune'' of Italy, in the province of Viterbo in northern Lazio on the eastern shore of Lake Bolsena. It is 10 km (6 mi) north-north west of Montefiascone and 36 km (22 mi) north-west of Viterbo. The a ...
, and the city was held by
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
and by
Lombards
The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774.
The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...
before its
self-governing commune was established in the tenth century, in which consuls governed under a
feudal oath of fealty to the bishop. Orvieto's relationship to the papacy has been a close one; in the tenth century
Pope Benedict VII
Pope Benedict VII ( la, Benedictus VII; died October 983) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 974 to his death.
Family and early career
Benedict was born in Rome, the son of David or Deodatus and nephew of Alberic ...
visited the city of Orvieto with his nephew, Filippo Alberici, who later settled there and became
Consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
of the city-state in 1016. By the thirteenth century, three papal palaces had been built.
Middle Ages
Orvieto, sitting on its impregnable rock controlling the road between Florence and Rome where it crossed the Chiana, was a large town: its population numbered about 30,000 at the end of the 13th century. Its municipal institutions already recognized in a papal bull of 1157, from 1201 Orvieto governed itself through a
podestà
Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...
, who was as often as not the bishop, however, acting in concert with a military governor, the "captain of the people". In the 13th century bitter feuds divided the city, which was at the apogée of its wealth but found itself often at odds with the papacy, even under
interdict
In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...
.
Pope Urban IV
Pope Urban IV ( la, Urbanus IV; c. 1195 – 2 October 1264), born Jacques Pantaléon, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1261 to his death. He was not a cardinal; only a few popes since his time hav ...
stayed at Orvieto from 1262 to 1264.
The city became one of the major cultural centers of its time when
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wi ...
taught at the ''studium'' there. A small university (now part of the
University of Perugia
University of Perugia (Italian ''Università degli Studi di Perugia'') is a public-owned university based in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale.
Th ...
), had its origins in a ''
studium generale
is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe.
Overview
There is no official definition for the term . The term ' first appeared at the beginning of the 13th century out of customary usage, and meant a place where stude ...
'' that was granted to the city by
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
in 1236. After teaching in Orvieto Aquinas was called to Rome in 1265 to serve as papal theologian to the newly elected
Pope Clement IV
Pope Clement IV ( la, Clemens IV; 23 November 1190 – 29 November 1268), born Gui Foucois ( la, Guido Falcodius; french: Guy de Foulques or ') and also known as Guy le Gros (French for "Guy the Fat"; it, Guido il Grosso), was bishop of Le Pu ...
, and as
Regent master
Regent master (''Magister regens'') was a title conferred in the medieval universities upon a student who had acquired a master's degree. The degree meant simply the right to teach, the ''Licentia docendi'', a right which could be granted, in the ...
of the
Santa Sabina
The Basilica of Saint Sabina ( la, Basilica Sanctae Sabinae, it, Basilica di Santa Sabina all'Aventino) is a historic church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. It is a titular minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Pre ...
''studium provinciale'', the forerunner of the
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum''.
Papal rule
The territory of Orvieto was under papal control long before it was officially added to the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
(various dates are quoted); it remained a papal possession until 1860, when it was annexed to
unified Italy.
Main sights
The Duomo
![Duomo di Orvieto 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Duomo_di_Orvieto_2014.JPG)
On 15 November 1290,
Pope Nicholas IV
Pope Nicholas IV ( la, Nicolaus IV; 30 September 1227 – 4 April 1292), born Girolamo Masci, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1288 to his death on 4 April 1292. He was the first Franciscan to be ele ...
laid the cornerstone for the present building and dedicated it to the Assumption of the Virgin, a feast for which the city had a long history of special devotion. The design has often been attributed to
Arnolfo di Cambio
Arnolfo di Cambio (c. 1240 – 1300/1310) was an Italian architect and sculptor. He designed Florence Cathedral and the sixth city wall around Florence (1284–1333), while his most important surviving work as a sculptor is the tomb of Cardin ...
, but the prevailing modern opinion is that the master mason was an obscure monk named
Fra' Bevignate from Perugia. The church is striped in white
travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...
and greenish-black
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
in narrow bands, similar in many ways to the
cathedral of Siena
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
and other central Italian cathedrals of that era. In the following decade, cathedral authorities called Sienese architect and sculptor
Lorenzo Maitani
Lorenzo Maitani (c. 1275–1330) was the Italian architect and sculptor primarily responsible for the construction and decoration of the façade of Orvieto Cathedral.
Maitani established his reputation in Siena and was called to supervise the co ...
to stabilize the building and design a façade. He enlarged the choir and planned a transept with two chapels (c. 1308–1330), spaces that were not finished until long after his death. The cathedral has five bells, tuned in E flat, which date back to the renaissance.
The façade (''illustration above'') is particularly striking and includes some remarkable sculpture by
Lorenzo Maitani
Lorenzo Maitani (c. 1275–1330) was the Italian architect and sculptor primarily responsible for the construction and decoration of the façade of Orvieto Cathedral.
Maitani established his reputation in Siena and was called to supervise the co ...
(14th century). Inside the cathedral, the
Chapel of San Brizio is frescoed by
Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Pengu ...
and with
Luca Signorelli
Luca Signorelli ( – 16 October 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cortona in Tuscany, who was noted in particular for his ability as a draftsman and his use of foreshortening. His massive frescos of the ''Last Judgment'' (1499–15 ...
's masterpiece, his ''
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
'' (1449–51). The
Corporal of Bolsena
The Corporal of Bolsena dates from a Eucharistic miracle in Bolsena, Italy, in 1263 when a consecrated host began to bleed onto a corporal, the small cloth upon which the host and chalice rest during the Canon of the Mass. The appearance o ...
, on view in the
Duomo
''Duomo'' (, ) is an Italian term for a church with the features of, or having been built to serve as, a cathedral, whether or not it currently plays this role. Monza Cathedral, for example, has never been a diocesan seat and is by definition n ...
, dates from a eucharistic miracle in
Bolsena
Bolsena is a town and ''comune'' of Italy, in the province of Viterbo in northern Lazio on the eastern shore of Lake Bolsena. It is 10 km (6 mi) north-north west of Montefiascone and 36 km (22 mi) north-west of Viterbo. The a ...
in 1263, when a consecrated host began to bleed onto a corporal, the small cloth upon which the host and chalice rest during the canon of the Mass.
Papal residence
From the 11th century onward, the popes maintained political presence in the
papal territory
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
which occupied central Italy. Together with his court, the pope moved from palace to palace in the manner of his European secular counterparts. Several central Italian cities hosted the pope and his retinue during the years of wandering, housing them in the bishop's palace. Outside Rome, only Orvieto and
Viterbo
Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo.
It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history ...
(and eventually
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
) had papal palaces.
Pope Adrian IV (1154–59) was the first pope to spend significant time in Orvieto. His successor,
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...
(1198–1216), was a militant opponent of the
Cathar
Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...
heresy, which had infiltrated the city, and took measures to eradicate that heresy. In 1227,
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
confirmed the Dominican ''
studium generale
is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe.
Overview
There is no official definition for the term . The term ' first appeared at the beginning of the 13th century out of customary usage, and meant a place where stude ...
'' in Orvieto, a school of theology, and one of the first in Europe.
Pope Urban IV
Pope Urban IV ( la, Urbanus IV; c. 1195 – 2 October 1264), born Jacques Pantaléon, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1261 to his death. He was not a cardinal; only a few popes since his time hav ...
(1261–64), a Frenchman who was crowned in the Dominican church in Viterbo and who spent most of his papacy in Orvieto, also left important legacies in the city. In 1263, he began a papal palace, perhaps the first outside Rome, and consecrated the new Dominican church in Orvieto.
Pope Nicholas IV
Pope Nicholas IV ( la, Nicolaus IV; 30 September 1227 – 4 April 1292), born Girolamo Masci, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1288 to his death on 4 April 1292. He was the first Franciscan to be ele ...
(1288–92) chose Orvieto over his hometown of Rome as seat of the
Curia
Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...
in 1291–92, establishing the meeting of the Curia in Orvieto as a tradition. He was rewarded by the Orvietans by being elected Podestà and Capitano del Popolo, the first pope to hold civic offices in the city.
His successor
Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani, Caetani family was of b ...
(1294–1303) continued the papal tie to Orvieto. Although often criticized by historians for nepotism and greed, the Orvietans were recipients of the pope's generosity, and honored Boniface by electing him city Capitano and Podestà in 1297 and Capitano again in 1298. He built the third and final Palazzo Papale, Palazzo Soliano. He also donated statues of himself at the main city gates, which earned him some criticism from his many enemies.
Benedict XI
Pope Benedict XI ( la, Benedictus PP. XI; 1240 – 7 July 1304), born Nicola Boccasini (Niccolò of Treviso), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 October 1303 to his death in 7 July 1304.
Boccasini entered the ...
(1288–1305) was the last pope to live in Italy before the Avignon papacy. During the years from Nicholas IV until Benedict XI Orvieto hosted the pope more frequently than Rome, and discussions continued as to whether or not Rome should remain the papal city. Pope
Nicholas V
Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene made ...
(1447–55) gave support to the city. In a letter of 1449, the pope gave money for the restoration of the episcopal palace that originally had been a project of Nicholas IV. He also allowed
Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Pengu ...
to begin painting in the Cappella Nuova of the cathedral.
During the
sack of Rome in 1527
The Sack of Rome, then part of the Papal States, followed the capture of the city on 6 May 1527 by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor during the War of the League of Cognac. Despite not being ordered to storm the city, wit ...
by the
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) ...
,
Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...
took refuge at Orvieto. Fearing that in the event of siege by Charles's troops the city's water might prove insufficient, he commissioned a spectacular 62 meter deep
well
A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
, the ''
Pozzo di S. Patrizio'' or "Well of St. Patrick". This Italian name, inspired by medieval legends that
St. Patrick's Purgatory
St Patrick's Purgatory is an ancient pilgrimage site on Station Island in Lough Derg, County Donegal, Ireland. According to legend, the site dates from the fifth century, when Christ showed Saint Patrick a cave, sometimes referred to as a p ...
in Ireland gave access down to
Purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
, was used to indicate something very deep. The construction was by the architect-engineer
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger
250px, A model of the Apostolic Palace, which was the main project of Bramante during Sangallo's apprenticeship.
250px, The church of Santa Maria di Loreto near the Rome.html"_;"title="Trajan's_Market_in_Rome">Trajan's_Market_in_Rome.
image: ...
. The central well shaft was surrounded by ramps in a
double helix
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
, similar to Saladin's Well. These ramps were each designed for one-way traffic, so that
mules laden with water-jars might pass down and then up unobstructed. An inscription on the well boasts that
QUOD NATURA MUNIMENTO INVIDERAT INDUSTRIA ADIECIT ("what nature stinted for provision, application has supplied").
Underground tunneling system
![Orvieto Underground](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Orvieto_Underground.jpg)
The city of Orvieto has long kept the secret of its
labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by t ...
of caves and tunnels that lie beneath the surface. Dug deep into the
tuff
Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...
, a volcanic rock, these secret hidden tunnels are now open to view only through guided tours. Their spectacular nature has also yielded many historical and archeological finds.
Saint Anselm College has set up a program where each summer, students travel to
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
to work at the college's archaeology site located at the Coriglia excavation site, just outside town.
The underground city boasts more than 1200 tunnels, galleries, wells, stairs, quarries, cellars, unexpected passageways, cisterns, superimposed rooms with numerous small square niches for pigeon roosts, detailing its creation over the centuries. Many of the homes of noble families were equipped with a means of escape from the elevated city during times of
siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...
through secret escape tunnels carved from the soft rock. The tunnels would lead from the city palazzo to emerge at a safe exit point some distance away from city walls.
Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo
Work on the construction of the
Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo began in the 13th century on an area that had been occupied since 1157 by the papal palace built under the reign of
Pope Hadrian IV
Pope Adrian IV ( la, Adrianus IV; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159, also Hadrian IV), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 to his death in 1159. He is the only Englishman t ...
. The original Palazzo del Capitano was a single ground-floor loggia that was used as a market place or for meetings, from which the magistrate would speak to the citizens. This was where the surrounding lords or representatives of vanquished cities came to pay their allegiance to Orvieto.
![Orvieto-Street2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Orvieto-Street2.jpg)
The structure was enlarged within ten years of its original construction and, in 1315, the bell tower was added and in the subsequent year, a great bell was hung there. The upper part of the structure was covered in 1472 and the large hall divided into two rooms, one large and the other small. The larger of the two occupied an area that corresponds approximately to the room known today as the Sala dei Quattrocento. Subsequently, the building functioned as a residence for the Capitano del Popolo, the Podestà and the Signori Sette.
From 1596 one of the lower-section rooms housed the Studium, which had been re-instituted a few years earlier by Lorenzo Magalotti. Students of law, theology and logic came here to study twice a day, each time the bell of Palazzo del Popolo rang, until 1651. Few records of this university appear after this date. Some sources indicate that it dates back to 1013 and had connections with names such as the Benedictine monks Graziano and Gozio of Orvieto.
The Albornoz fortress
In Piazza Cahen stands the Fortezza dell'Albornoz. It was built by order of the Spanish
Cardinal Albornoz
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
under orders from
Pope Innocent VI and designed by condottiero and military engineer Ugolino di Montemarte. The Albornoz fortress stands on an area that was once occupied by a temple known by the Latin name ''Augurale''.
Originally known as the Rocca di San Martino, construction on this massive fortress started either in 1359 or 1353 near the town's cemetery. Its aim was to provide the church a secure site in the city and allow the cardinal and his captains to consolidate recent military victories.
In its original square plan the fortress was flanked by a small building near the main entrance and surrounded by a moat, crossed by a drawbridge. However, the Rocca was almost completely razed to the ground in 1395 and successive attempts to rebuild it were unsuccessful. The fortress was finally rebuilt during the mid-15th century, using original plans and an additional circular line of fortifications.
After the
sack of Rome at the end of 1527
Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...
took refuge in Orvieto. To ensure that the city would be sufficiently supplied with water in the event of a siege, he gave orders for the digging of the now famous artesian well Pozzo di San Patrizio (1528–1537). For added security, the pope ordered that a second well be dug to supply the fortress alone.
Others
*
San Giovenale, built in 1004, probably over a pre-existing church, is the oldest church in Orvieto. Contains many 13th-century frescos.
*
San Domenico, one of the first Dominican churches.
*
San Francesco (1266), a former Franciscan church.
*Orvieto is also home to Etruscan ruins and the remnants of a wall that enclosed the city more than 2000 years ago. At the foot of the butte, surrounded by peach and apple trees and a vineyard, the Etruscan necropolis of ''
Crocefisso di Tufo'' numbers a hundred or so chamber tombs laid along a rectangular street grid.
Economy
The
white wine
White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without skin contact. The wine color, colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured Juice vesicles, ...
of the Orvieto district, to the northeast of the city, is highly prized;
red wine
Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties. The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice from most purple grap ...
s are also grown. Orvieto is a member of
Cittaslow
Cittaslow is an organisation founded in Italy and inspired by the slow food movement. Cittaslow's goals include improving the quality of life in towns by slowing down its overall pace, especially in a city's use of spaces and the flow of life a ...
, the ''slow food'' movement. Orvieto has many restaurants. One of Orvieto's specialty dishes is truffle pasta. Italian bank
Cassa di Risparmio di Orvieto was based in the city.
Orvieto ware, tin-glazed earthenware (maiolica) was originally manufactured at Orvieto, where it has been produced since the 13th century.
Transport
The
Orvieto funicular provides a link from Orvieto to the historic city centre.
Since December 2016
Orvieto station has been served by Austrian railways ÖBB overnight sleeper services to Munich and Vienna.
Pop culture
Orvieto is one of the main locales of ''
Sign of the Cross
Making the sign of the cross ( la, signum crucis), or blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or + across the body with ...
'', the international bestseller by
Chris Kuzneski
Chris Kuzneski (born 1969) is an American novelist. His eleventh novel, ''The Prisoner's Gold'', won the Thriller Award for the 2016 Book of the Year at a gala hosted by the International Thriller Writers (ITW) in New York City on July 9, 2016. H ...
. The novel features the
Cathedral of Orvieto
Orvieto Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Orvieto; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a large 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and situated in the town of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy. Since 198 ...
,
St. Patrick's Well, and many other local sites.
Miscellaneous
The patron saint of Orvieto is
Saint Joseph
Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...
.
Alongside Saint Anselm College, Orvieto also hosts a study abroad program with the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
T ...
founded by
David Soren (archaeologist), and run by Dr. Claudio Bizzari, Alba Frascarelli, and Rosita Focarelli.
Notable natives
*
Anna Gili, designer and artist
*
Matthew DeSimone, career loss leader in
Whiffle Ball
*
Erminia Frezzolini
Erminia Frezzolini (27 March 1818 – 5 November 1884) was an Italian operatic soprano. She excelled in the coloratura soprano repertoire, drawing particular acclaim in the bel canto operas of Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini. She was marri ...
, operatic soprano
*
Stefano Tilli, athlete
* Hands of Time (HOT), Italian Hard Rock band
Twin towns – sister cities
Orvieto is
twinned with:
*
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
*
Givors
Givors (; frp, Givôrs) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France.
Location
It lies at the confluence of the Rhone and the Gier about south of Lyon and on the main road between that city and Sai ...
, France
*
Maebashi
is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It ...
, Japan
*
Aiken, United States
*
Seinäjoki, Finland
*
Kercem, Malta
References
Further reading
*Bell, Sinclair and Alexandra A. Carpino, eds. 2016. ''A Companion to the Etruscans.'' Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
*Castagnoli, Donata. 2013. "The Wine-Producing Territory of Orvieto." ''Journal of Wine Research'' 24 (4): 253–63.
*Donati, Roberto. 1986. ''Orvieto: Art, History, Folklore.'' Narni, Italy: Plurigraf.
*George, David B., and Claudio Bizzarri. 2015. "A field report of the excavations of Cavità 254 in Orvieto (2012–2014)." ''Etruscan Studies'' 18 (1): 40–53.
*Haynes, Sybille. 2000. ''Etruscan civilization: A cultural history.'' Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.
*James, Sara Nair. 2003. ''Signorelli and Fra Angelico at Orvieto: Liturgy, Poetry, and a Vision of the End-Time.'' Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
*Pallottino, Massimo. 1978. ''The Etruscans.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
*Riess, Jonathan B., and Luca Signorelli. 1995. ''The Renaissance Antichrist: Luca Signorelli's Orvieto Frescoes.'' Princeton: Princeton University Press.
*Sprenger, Maia, and Gilda Bartoloni. 1983. ''The Etruscans: Their history, art and architecture.'' Translated by Robert E. Wolf. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
*
Turfa, Jean MacIntosh
Jean MacIntosh Turfa (born 1947 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American archaeologist and authority on the Etruscan civilization.
Jean MacIntosh graduated from Abington High School in Philadelphia and then earned her bachelor's degree at Gw ...
, ed. 2013. ''The Etruscan World.'' Routledge Worlds. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
External links
Official Site ''Thayer's Gazetteer of Umbria''; accessed 26 March 2015.
InItaly.com; accessed 26 March 2015.
Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell' Umbria National Archaeological Museum of Orvieto eng.archeopg.arti.beniculturali.it; accessed 26 March 2015.
AdventuresInItaly.net; accessed 26 March 2015.
Orvieto Official website on tourism inorvieto.it; accessed 26 March 2015.
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Cittaslow
Hilltowns in Umbria
Wine regions of Italy
Volcanoes of Italy
Volcanic plugs of Italy
Castles in Italy