zaterdag 25 januari 2014

Overwhelming Orvieto

If you ever make it to Umbria, you may not forget to visit Orvieto in the provincia of Terni. More famous than my beloved Todi, it attracts more tourists too, but they know how to appreciate its beauty so you can enjoy the lovely spots together.

(c) Wim van Gent
Of course you have at least heard of the famous Duomo. Its facade can only be desribed as impressive and you can sit down and watch it for hours. I am not going to give you more details, because every writer in the world already did so. The interiour has a serene atmosphere and is absolutely overwhelming for its height an brightness. Don´t forget to visit the Capella San Brizio and admire Signorelli´s masterpieces.

The Piazza del Duomo is a great place to have a coffee and watch other people that, like you, are impatient to see more of the town.










For there is a lot more. Nice souvenir shops where you will certainly find something you like and good restaurants and trattoria´s to have a lunch with one of Orvieto´s specialties, like pollo orvietana or pigeon and, of course, drink an Orvieto Classico.  I have my favourite, but I won´t influence you for they all have a good hand on food.

Orvieto has an few interesting museums, for example the Museo dell´opera del Duomo or the Etruscan museum. The good thing is that the tourist office, located at the end of the Piazza del Duomo, sells the so called Carta Unica that will permit you to visit several museums and attractions all by one card.

I went to Orvieto Underground. It was very interesting. The two caves that are open to public provide an impression of the more than thousand caves in the town. All of them are still private property and used as wine or food cellars. The two I visited were used for those purposes too. The second one showed an amount of holes in the walls, used to breed pigeons, and a deep well to provide water. The first showed a complete olive mill.




That way, the town was assured of having enough supplies in case of a siege from the valley. Later, in World War II, the second cave had been served as a shelter for the hospital in case of bombing (which, fortunately, never happened).
The last thing I have to tell you is, that the entrance ticket will give you a shortage for Narni Sotteranea, about which I wrote before. Click here to read about it.



(c) Jetty van Gent
If you still have time left, there´s the Torrel del Moro from which you have an amazing view of the Umbrian landscape, or













roam around Orvieto´ small streets and alleys......










…...and on´t forget to look up now and then.





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