Orvieto is an ancient Etruscan hill city, perched on top of a volcanic massif, and with many strange and wonderful stories to tell.
A “high and strange” city, said one Medieval traveller
The first view one has of Orvieto is from afar when it appears in the distance, proudly standing on top of its tuff volcanic-rock hill, dominating a vast plain, a city both “high and strange” as described by one medieval traveller. Just 90 minutes north of Rome and roughly the same distance south of Florence, it is easily accessible by car on the AI north-south highway. Visitors can park in one of the well-organized underground car parks and then take one of the elevators or escalators that lead up to the centre, finding themselves right inside the old city.
A city with fascinating churches and art works
The Cathedral has splendid 14th-century mosaics on its handsome façade, and is rich in works of art, but its pièce de resistance is the Chapel of San Brizio with the frescoed Universal Judgement by Luca Signorelli (1499-1504) which is one of the great masterpieces of Italian painting. Churches like San Francesco, San Domenico, Sant’Andrea, San Giovenale and San Lorenzo de Arari also have interesting paintings and sculptures. 
A famous well, handsome palaces and cobblestone streets
On a lower level the famous St. Patrick’s Well can be visited right to the bottom by taking two flights of stairs that descend some 60 metres underground. Designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger in 1527, the stairs ingeniously wind around one another, one serving to go down and the other to come back up. From the nearby Albornoz Fortress (1364), now a public garden, there are wonderful views across the plain and the hills surrounding the city. The medieval Torre del Moro is open to visitors and has 360° vistas of the city and its surrounds. The 13th-century Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo is now a conference centre, and the old medieval town has narrow cobblestone streets and jutting tall spurs of tuff rock interrupted by large and small squares from which there are panoramic views. 
Underground Orvieto is a fascinating experience
Orvieto was originally an Etruscan settlement known as Oinarea (meaning the place where wine flows), and visitors should try the excellent local wines, as well as visiting the Claudio Faina National Archaelogical Museum. Underground Orvieto dates back 2,500 years. The townspeople captured water by constructing cisterns, wells and caves that form a complex network, a kind of underground city that was discovered by chance in the 1970s. The underground guided tours are exciting journeys back in time that bring visitors through winding tunnels, caves and stairways, with Etruscan cisterns, an ancient oil mill, wells and silos that tell of Orvieto's Etruscan, Medieval and Renaissance roots. For information: https://liveorvieto.com
