Tours To Italy For History Lovers: Traveling To Orvieto

"Tours to Italy for history lovers: a trip to Orvieto"

Orvieto is a blessed town in the central Italian region - Umbria - literally drowning in greenery. If the tours you bought to Italy include this city, be prepared for chic vineyards, magnificent nature, silence and harmony. It is these first impressions that causes this place for most of the tourists. Despite the fact that the town is relatively small, it contains many secrets and mysteries. It may even appear that Orvieto never came out of the Middle Ages.

A bit about the history of the city

In the period from VIII to III century BC in place of the modern town was an Etruscan village. In the 6th century AD, the Episcopate was transferred to Orvieto. Until the 12th century the city was part of the Lombard Spoletian duchy and the Papacy. In 1290 the construction of the cathedral began. After the completion of the construction and until the XIV century the city was a Papal residence. In 1860, there was another significant event for Orvieto - the city became part of the united Italian kingdom. To study the history of Orvieto in detail can be in the city itself, buying tours to Italy.

sights

There are many architectural and cultural monuments that have passed through the centuries. One of them is the Well of St. Patrick. Its construction began in 1527 and was timed to the settlement in Orvieto by Clement VII after the capture of Rome. The well was needed to supply water to the fortress of Albornoz. The depth of the well is 62 meters, and the width is 13 meters. In this case, different paths are used for descent and ascent. By tradition, at the bottom of the well is a huge number of coins.

Another building, which was built especially for the clergy, is the fortress of Albornoz. It was built by order of the Spanish Cardinal Albornoz. But by the nineteenth century the fortress had come to a deplorable state, it was abandoned and it began to deteriorate. To our time, only a stone wall and a round tower remained from it. Near the fortress there is a city park, where local residents rest.

The main attraction of Orvieto is the cathedral mentioned above. Not surprisingly, most tourists buy air tickets to Italy with the expectation of reaching this religious building. Striking is not so much the cathedral itself, as the size of the square on which it is located - it is minimal. If you sit next to the building, it may seem that the cathedral is coming at you. It is this awkwardness that creates the unique attraction of the Cathedral. The central facade of the building is a unique ensemble of many kinds of arts. The frescoes of the facade create a rich and refined image, and the sides are made in black and white.

Most European cathedrals are characterized by a close arrangement of museums related to them, in which works of painting and sculpture are collected. And the Cathedral is no exception. In Orvieto there is a museum of the Duomo works, consisting of several departments and located on the Cathedral Square. On the first floor of the building are the works of the Italian sculpture of the last century Emilia Greco, and on the second there is a huge collection of medieval art items: utensils, frescoes and jewelers' works.

Before you go to the cathedral, you should book an excursion to the underground Orvieto. During the tour, tourists learn about underground city caves, which hide a lot of secrets. Particularly interesting in such an excursion is the grotto of Adriana. It is noteworthy that most of the existing caves were used to collect rainwater or produce wine.