Orvieto

St Patrick's Well

Smiling on the way down.

About 160' deep.

My wife as a Mannequin

The caves...an Etruscan Well dating back to between the 2nd and 8th Century BC

Very large caves.

Underground Olive Oil production plant.

Hats, gloves...underwear?

Pgeon coop...not pets...food. Caves.

The Dude.

     After our “Wells Fargo” day, we finally got back in the groove. Today it was Orvieto or bust and we rolled in and parked about 10am. We could have been in town earlier, but unbeknownst to us, today was the fall back day for daylight savings time in Italy. Nanc and I were up at 7 and ready to head out the door by 9...funny thing, at 9, the church bells said 8? I checked the computer and it agreed with the 8am time? I went outside and found one of the nice older ladies and somehow asked her if it was 8 or 9...she went into a great flurry of Italian explaining it was 8am because of the change overnight...I think I understood the arm waving!! Anyway, we were dressed and ready to go but it was just a touch to early.

     Besides just hanging out in Orvieto today we decided to take the Underground Cave tour and go see St. Patrick’s Well. The Underground tour didn’t start until 11:15 so we started at the Well...I know what your thinking...didn’t Roger say he’d never do a tour again...true, but the Underground is only available through a tour. Patricks Well on the other hand only takes a ticket, a lack of claustrophobia and strong legs.

     They say St. Patrick’sWell is the perfect integration of engineering, audacity and architectural decor’. The well was commissioned by Pope Clement VII in 1527 following one of his stays in town. Rome was becoming unsafe (having just been sacked) and Orvieto was looking like a place of regular Papal refuge. Knowing if he were their frequently, Orvieto too would become besieged, the Pope realized at some point there would be a pressing need for a reliable water supply. The builders of the Well felt confident they would find water at about 30 meters...nice Etruscan burial chamber but no water...10 years after he began, and at 53 meters, he struck water. The well is 13 meters wide and 53 meters deep, it has 2 spiral staircases, 1 for up and 1 for down, these are totally independent one from the other and each has 248 steps wide enough to accommodate a donkey, used to carry water to the surface. There are 70 windows cut into the the walls to light the way. The unusual name comes from a supposed resemblance to St. Patrick’s Cavern in Ireland. When you enter the Well from the surface it only takes a minute for it to become dark and gloomy. The walk down is difficult because the stairs are wide and tilted downwards...good exercise coming up...I could hardly fit thru the turnstile coming out, not sure what they do with people that are bigger? We had a very cool time.

     At 11:15 we meant up with our group and headed down to the Caves. Over the past 3000 years the inhabitants of this city have dug and dug and dug. There are an unbelievable 1200 caves dug in the soft volcanic rock just below the city. They say every 3rd step taken in the city is over a cave...we visited 2 of the vast network of caves that twist, turn and intersect below the bustling city. The 1st was used as a work area for the production of Olive Oil, all the tools and implements are clearly in place, this allowed production to go on even when the season turned cold. The second cave was a vast pigeon coop, the wealthy residents who could afford such an area, populated the cave with pigeons and built in natural nesting spots along with windows that freed the birds to come and go, water was supplied thru pipes and so the owners had birds that basically fed themselves, and since they always returned to their nest, he had a nice supply of birds to eat...fact I didn’t know pigeons can procreate in just 20 days...Waiter, Pigeon For Everyone! 

     There were about 16 in our group and all of us were amazed to see the vastness of these caves and how well it all seemed to function...some had steps from inside their homes down to their area. In WWII there was a truce on all sides regarding bombing of the main city...all agreed they wanted to preserve the Cathedral...during that time many of the residents from out in the valley took refuge in the caves...one of the bigger caves was actually connected to the hospital. So much history here.

     After the Caves we did a little wondering, snuck into the Cathedral to take a look and finished the day with a nice lunch at Gallo d’Oro Pizzeria. Left Orvieto at 2:30, needed to get home for Jess’s call at 3pm...suppose to be 4pm but that dang Daylight Savings Time. Superior day...tomorrow Lake Trasimeno up by Perugia.