Free Walking Tour Orvieto: Fortress, Duomo and Well

Your Orvieto Walking Tour Through Seven Stops

1. 1

   Rocca Albornoziana

   

   You begin on the eastern edge of the rock that carries Orvieto, entering from Piazza Cahen. Only part of the Rocca Albornoziana survives, but it is a handsome part: a strong tower and a stretch of the old perimeter wall, from which the view opens across the valley of the Paglia river. Today the fortress holds the town's main public gardens, and walking in is free.

   The fortress was a political statement as much as a defence. In the fourteenth century Cardinal Egidio Albornoz reorganised papal power across central Italy and raised fortresses in every town brought back under the pope, each with a military job and a symbolic one. Here the design went to the military architect Ugolino di Montemarte, whose noble family owned land in the area. The original fortress of 1364 was a square circuit of walls ringed by a wide moat and crossed by drawbridges. What remains is the tower above Porta Soliana, later also called Porta Rocca, close to Porta Postierla.

   There is a harder story beneath the lawns. The fortress rose on the rubble of San Martino, a working people's quarter largely razed for military security. Officially, the proposal came from the town council itself, after Orvieto's so called free annexation to the Papal State. With the public buildings of the commune by then almost abandoned, the fortress and the slowly rising cathedral became the two poles of the town.

   Before you leave, look for the bronze works by the American sculptor Jack Zajac, and for the house where the journalist Luigi Barzini was born. Then head for the Torre del Moro, 670 m and 11 min away; the Giardini Comunali lie along this first stretch.

   Local name

   Fortezza Albornoz

   Hours

   May–Sep daily 08:00–19:30; Oct–Apr daily 08:00–16:30

   Price

   Free

   Website

   orvietoviva.com ↗

   Location

   Rocca Albornoziana on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Torre del Moro

   

   The Torre del Moro is the first ticketed stop of the walk. The fee to go up is modest, and the tower is part of the Carta Unica, so if you plan several visits in town, money is rarely the deciding factor here.

   The real question is your legs and your time. This walk has two big physical efforts, the tower and St. Patrick's Well, and they draw on the same reserves. If you want everything, do both. If you have to choose, keep your energy for the well, the effort with a remarkable story attached. From here it is 350 m and 5 min to Piazza del Duomo.

   Hours

   Apr, May, Sep daily 10:00–18:00; Jun–Aug daily 10:00–13:00 and 15:00–19:00; Oct–Feb daily 10:30–16:30; Mar Mon–Fri 10:00–17:00, Sat–Sun 10:00–18:00

   Price

   3.80 EUR full, 3.00 EUR reduced (students, seniors, groups 6-14 pax), free for children under 6

   Website

   orvietoviva.com ↗

   Location

   Torre del Moro on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   Piazza del Duomo

   

   Piazza del Duomo is public space with no gates and no ticket, and it holds a fact you cannot see. Two churches once stood on this ground: Santa Maria, the bishop's church, and San Costanzo, the parish church. Pope Nicholas IV had both replaced by a single great cathedral for the whole town.

   Stand back and take in the facade before you go anywhere near the doors. Much of what you see was set out by one Sienese master, whose name and story wait for you at the cathedral itself; three of the four spires were added far later by another hand.

   The square is also the hinge of the middle section. The guided visits of the Orvieto Underground leave from here, and the cathedral is only a few paces away, so if you are waiting for a departure or a service, the piazza is a good place to spend the time. On the short way to the underground you pass the Museo Claudio Faina and the Museum of the Opera del Duomo; the meeting point itself is 130 m and 2 min away.

   Hours

   Open 24/7

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Piazza del Duomo on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Orvieto Underground

   

   Beneath your feet lies a second Orvieto: tunnels, artificial caves and old workrooms cut into the tufa. From the late 1970s a group of local cavers began mapping them, at first as amateurs, and their count grew to more than 1200 artificial cavities. In the early 1990s the Umbria region had many of them surveyed in detail, both for the stability of the rock and for their historical and archaeological value.

   Most of these spaces are cellars. Cool and dark, they were ideal for storing food and above all wine, until refrigerators and modern winemaking made them redundant in the 1950s and almost all were abandoned. On their own they are fairly alike, but cutting them exposed traces of everything dug before. A well known archaeologist put it neatly: the 1200 caves are really 1200 test trenches under the town.

   Those trenches turned up a long line of cisterns, from Etruscan ones of the fifth century BC, including a rare type built in a framed technique, through medieval examples to huge Renaissance tanks. There are Etruscan channels dug to collect water, among them a stretch of about 30 metres that may be the longest you can visit, and medieval rubbish pits whose finds explain a local craft: Orvieto's pottery tradition goes back to the vessels recovered from them.

   The visit is guided and charges entry, and it suits anyone who wants to understand how the town and its rock grew together. Afterwards the cathedral is just 30 m and 1 min away.

   Local name

   Sotterranei di Orvieto

   Hours

   Daily guided departures at 11:00, 12:15, 16:00, 17:15; closed Dec 25

   Price

   10.00 EUR full, 8.00 EUR reduced (students, seniors, groups over 25 pax)

   Website

   orvietounderground.it ↗

   Location

   Orvieto Underground on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   Orvieto Cathedral

   

   Now the facade you studied from the piazza gets its name. In the first years of the 1300s the Sienese sculptor and architect Lorenzo Maitani took charge of the works. He enlarged the apse and transept in Gothic forms and fixed the look of the facade as you still see it, without ever finishing it. When he died in 1330 the building was far from done, and a series of architect sculptors followed, often for short spells. The facade was only completed in the second half of the 1500s by Ippolito Scalza, who built three of its four spires.

   The cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta was begun in 1290 at the wish of Pope Nicholas IV. Its first design, Romanesque, is by an unknown artist, probably Arnolfo di Cambio. Fra Bevignate of Perugia led the works first, then Giovanni di Uguccione, who brought in the earliest Gothic forms. Pope Leo XIII made it a minor basilica in January 1889, and it is an Italian national monument.

   Inside, two chapels carry most of the weight. The Cappella del Corporale, built between 1350 and 1356, keeps the Corporal of the miracle of Bolsena; the idea that the miracle prompted the whole cathedral is disputed. The Cappella di San Brizio was built between 1408 and 1444 but painted only later, from 1447 until 1504. From the middle of the sixteenth century the interior was reworked into a Counter Reformation church, a renewal finished in the late 1580s.

   Entry is paid and worth it for anyone with an hour and an interest in art or architecture. From the doors it is 1040 m and 13 min to St. Patrick's Well, passing the Museo Emilio Greco on the way.

   Local name

   Duomo di Orvieto

   Hours

   Mar–May and Sep–Oct daily 09:30–19:00; Jun–Aug daily 09:30–20:00; Nov–Feb daily 09:30–17:00 (Sundays and holy days: Nov–Feb 10:00–11:00 and 13:00–16:30; Mar–Oct 10:00–11:00 and 13:00–17:30)

   Price

   8.00 EUR full (Cathedral, Emilio Greco Museum and Underground of the Cathedral with audioguide); 11.00 EUR combined with Museo Etrusco Claudio Faina; 6.50 EUR groups; free for children under 11 and disabled visitors with companion

   Website

   duomodiorvieto.it ↗

   Location

   Orvieto Cathedral on Google Maps ↗

6. 6

   St. Patrick's Well

   

   From outside you see only a low cylinder, decorated with the Farnese lilies of Pope Paul III, with two entrances facing each other. Above the door runs a Latin line, 'quod natura munimento inviderat industria adiecit': what nature failed to provide, human ingenuity supplied. Below ground it opens into a shaft 54 metres deep and 13 metres across, lit by 72 large windows.

   The well was born of fear. Pope Clement VII, who had withdrawn to Orvieto after the Sack of Rome, wanted water secured in case the town came under siege. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger built it between 1527 and 1537; in his absences Giovanni Battista da Cortona oversaw the work, and Simone Mosca made the decorative parts. It was finished under Paul III Farnese.

   The engineering trick is the reason to go in. Two spiral ramps wind down the shaft, each one way, fully separate and served by its own door, so that mules carrying water up never met those going down, and nobody needed the single road that climbed from the valley floor. At the bottom a natural spring keeps the water level constant, while an outlet drains the excess. The tufa it is cut into is fairly hard, but after centuries it is suffering from sewage seepage.

   Clement VII also had Benvenuto Cellini strike a coin in honour of the well, inscribed 'UT BIBAT POPULUS', so that the people may drink, and showing Moses striking water from a rock. Entry is paid and, for most visitors, the one to choose if you only pick one. Next comes the longest leg of the route: 1740 m and 26 min to San Giovenale, passing the Michelangeli Wood Sculptures.

   Local name

   Pozzo di San Patrizio

   Hours

   May–Aug daily 09:00–19:30 (closes 20:00); Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct daily 09:00–18:30 (closes 19:00); Nov–Feb daily 10:00–16:30 (closes 17:00)

   Price

   6.00 EUR full, 4.50 EUR reduced (groups min 6 pax, students, seniors, minors, disabled visitors, TCI members, Pozzo della Cava ticket holders)

   Location

   St. Patrick's Well on Google Maps ↗

7. 7

   Church of San Giovenale

   

   You finish at a church older than the cathedral by almost three centuries, and entry is free. San Giovenale was built in 1004, possibly on the site of an Etruscan temple to Jupiter, and an early Christian church, probably of the sixth century and with the same dedication, stood here before it. Next to it stood a building dedicated to San Savino, known today only from a fresco by Ugolino di Prete Ilario inside the cathedral you have just seen.

   From outside you see a bare Romanesque facade with a tall bell tower at its side, traces of the old porch and blind arches. In the fourteenth century the round apse was removed and the east end extended in Gothic style, ending in a rectangular apse. An inscription on the side door dates it to 1497, and while the lower part of the building is original, the upper part was rebuilt in 1825.

   The church changed hands often. It is recorded as a parish church in 1028, and an altar inscription, GUIDO ABAS MCLXX, shows that by 1170 it belonged to the Guglielmite monks, who left around 1248. Bishop Giuseppe Marsciano refurbished and reconsecrated it in 1739; the Franciscans held it from 1810 until their community was suppressed in 1860.

   Go inside: the walls are rich in paintings of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, including votive frescoes of the Orvieto school, hidden by a Baroque makeover in 1632 and only recently uncovered. The most notable work is the fifteenth century Maestà known as the Madonna del Soccorso, given by the Ghezzi family and found again behind a silver screen in the twentieth century. It is a quiet, fitting end to the walk.

   Hours

   Daily: 09:00–12:30, 15:30–18:30

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Church of San Giovenale on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways to Walk Orvieto

The full route runs from the eastern edge of the rock to San Giovenale. If your time or budget is tighter, these cuts keep the strongest parts.

The whole route

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

For a full day in Orvieto. 57 min of walking; entry at the Torre del Moro, the underground, the cathedral and St. Patrick's Well, with the fortress, the piazza and San Giovenale free.

Finish at the well

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

For a half day that still takes in every paid highlight. You drop the longest leg of the route and walk 32 min in total; entry at the tower, the underground, the cathedral and the well.

Cathedral quarter only

Stops: 3, 4, 5

For a short stopover or a rainy hour. Piazza, underground and cathedral sit within 3 min of walking; the piazza is free, the underground and the cathedral charge entry.

How Long Does This Orvieto Tour Take with the Visits Inside?

Walking alone takes 57 min, because the cathedral quarter is compact and the distances only stretch at the end: the well lies 13 min from the cathedral, and San Giovenale another 26 min beyond it.

What fills the day are the interiors. Give the fortress and its walls about 20 minutes, the tower half an hour if you go up, the guided underground visit around an hour, the cathedral an hour, the well 40 minutes and San Giovenale 20. Together with the walking, that comes to roughly five hours. Ending at the well saves about 45 minutes, and the cathedral quarter alone fits into two hours with both visits.

Before You Set Off in Orvieto

• Start and finish: The recommended start is the Rocca Albornoziana, reached from Piazza Cahen; the route ends at the Church of San Giovenale, not back where you began. You can join at any stop.
• Time of day: With all four paid visits this is a five hour day, so a morning start is the comfortable choice. The underground can only be visited on a guided departure, so look up the times before you set off and plan the middle of the walk around one.
• Entry: The Torre del Moro, Orvieto Underground, Orvieto Cathedral and St. Patrick's Well charge entry. The Rocca Albornoziana, Piazza del Duomo and San Giovenale are free.

Common Questions About Walking Orvieto