Orvieto owes its popular nickname “città bomboniera” (little gem) to its really intricate and impressive layout.
Built on the top of a tall tuff massif, Orvieto boasts very ancient origins as it was founded by the Etruscans around the 9th century BC.
The tuff massif on which Orvieto stands was patiently carved by man over about 2500 years and is now a maze containing more than one thousand caves.
The highlight of this incredible underground network is the Pozzo di San Patrizio well, dug around 1527 to help the town survive in case of a siege (it was the year of the sack of Rome).
The size of Orvieto’s Pozzo di San Patrizio is impressive: 62 meters deep with a diameter of 13.5 m, it is lined by two spiral staircases, where light flows in through 72 large windows. It is a unique site you must not miss on your trip to Orvieto!
