From Rome to Umbria

Already on the way out of Rome, charming panoramas of fields, hills, rivers, and grazing sheep open up before your eyes. Upon arrival at Orvieto station, we will encounter our first adventure - climbing a cliff over 300 meters high, on which the town center is located. And this path will be helped by a small funny funicular car that appeared in this town at the end of the 19th century.

Arriving in the upper part of the town, we will be greeted by the first surprise - we will have a breathtaking view that will not leave any traveler indifferent - the valley around the town with villas and vineyards, and distant green hills on the horizon. Next to the viewing platform is the marvel of 16th-century engineering - the St. Patrick's Well, descending more than 50 meters deep! I will tell you why this well was built, where such a strange name came from (after all, Patrick is not an Italian saint, but an Irish one!), and why the spiral staircases in the well do not intersect.

Strolling through the narrow streets of the town, I will tell you about the history of Orvieto, which dates back to the distant 8th-3rd centuries BC, what the city was called in Etruscan, why it was destroyed to the ground by the Romans, what happened to it in the Middle Ages, and until 1860 when it became part of the unified Kingdom of Italy.

Finally, quite unexpectedly, we will see the city's cathedral - an incredible example of Italian Gothic, with mosaics by Andrea Orvieto on the facade and frescoes by Luca Signorelli in the Capella Nuova, which served as a prototype for Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. It is worth noting that Gothic architecture is quite rare in Italy, and that is why the Orvieto Cathedral is interesting with its reliefs, mosaics, sculptural decorations, and interior decoration. In addition, the miracle that served as the basis for its construction later became the reason for the Pope to proclaim a very important Catholic holiday, the Feast of Corpus Christi. Finally, we will climb the city tower, which offers the best view of the city's rooftops, surroundings, and the cathedral.