Orvieto
| Title: | Orvieto | |||||||
| Category: | Destinations We Visit on Our Soriano Vacations | |||||||
| Author: | Michael Kovnick | Updated: | Jan 30, 2019 | Views: | 4,402 | |||
| Tags: | orvieto | |||||||
In this relatively small town that is built atop a massive rock of volcanic tuff, you will find one of Italy's most striking cathedrals thanks to a great miracle that happened nearby while the Pope was visiting in the 1260's. In addition to the amazing Duomo, Orvieto is the home to the famous Orvieto Classico white wine, and lots of shopping for ceramics and other gifts.
Orvieto History
Orvieto dates back to Etruscan times. Thanks to its defensible landscape, over the centuries, it has been held by the Vatican, The Goths, and The Lombards. While the population today is only 21,000, in the 13th century, Orvieto's population was as high as 30,000.
In the 1260's there was a priest questioned whether or not the bread used in communion was truly the body of christ. He was performing a service at the nearby Lake Bolsena, when the bread began to bleed. At the time, the Pope was in Orvieto who declared this a miracle. As such, a grand cathedral needed to be built to celebrate the miracle, and shortly after construction on the Duomo began. This created a massively off scale cathedral when one looks at the size of the town it services.
Getting There
Most of our itineraries from Soriano take us here for a half day. If you are looking to go to Orvieto on your own, you will find it along the A1 Autostrada, between Rome and Florence. It is also easy to get to by train from most major Italian cities.