Orvieto

CHAPTER 30

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They say all roads lead to Rome, but that means all roads lead away from Rome as well- and we wanted to see where they went. As is our modus operandi, we rented a small car, played a bit of luggage tetris, and hit the autostrada headed north. Our destination was Tuscany, Sienna to be specific, but we had no real itinerary and felt obliged to stop whenever we saw something worth note. About lunch time we got off the highway, and drove up some winding switchbacks to the hilltop town of Orvieto. Talk about a lucky find- Orvieto was amazing!

Situated on top of a tall butte made of soft volcanic tuff, the site is surrounded by shear cliffs on every side, making it utterly defensible, and as such has been occupied at least since the Etruscans, dating back to 900 BCE. A place that is continually inhabited for such a long amount of time will understandably be awash with intriguing history. The city was used by kings and emperors and popes alike, and the main plaza is dominated by a huge, and uniquely black and white stripped cathedral. But the most fascinating aspect of the city is that the butte on which it sits is riddled through with hundreds of interconnected secret tunnels and passageways, like a man-sized ant hill. Most were constructed to provide a hiding place or prudent escape route, when threatened with invasion. We were lucky enough to eat lunch at a little restaurant which had repurposed the tunnel beneath their building as a wine cellar, and they graciously let us go down and explore it for ourselves. It was quite the site, ancient bottles stacked in crumbling niches covered in wispy cobwebs and huge casks of wine that looked absolutely medieval. How in the name of St. Anky did they even get them down there? If you find your self driving to Tuscany, make a point of seeing Orvieto- you won’t regret it.

*Note: Photos with a “VS” suffix are credited to Val and Steve
 
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