From Viterbo it was two very quick and very very early morning train rides to get to the beautiful hilltop medieval town of Orvieto. The train station is at the bottom of the hill and my hotel is up top in the historic center, but that’s not a problem here. Orvieto has its own funicular that runs from the train station straight to the top where a bus is waiting to drive you to the center, and all for just €1.30. Good thing because I was not looking forward to lugging my backpack up that hill.

Not much is left of the castle, Rocca Albornoziana, it’s mostly a public park, but the original town gate is still standing, Porta Soliana. And the views of lower Orvieto are pretty incredible. The train station is down there on the left in the pic above.

On my way to my first sight I unexpectedly found an Etruscan pyramid, right next to the funicular station.

In the 16th century when Rome was being sacked, the Pope took refuge here in Orvieto and commissioned that a well be dug. They incorporated two spiral staircases around it in a double helix so pack animals could go up and down without running into each other.

They got down 170ft before they struck water, but the Pope died before it was completed making it a colossal waste of time and effort. Now for €5 you can walk down one spiral staircase, cross the little bridge at the bottom, and then walk up the other spiral. Medieval thighs of steel!

Orvieto’s gothic cathedral is simply on another level. It was started in 1290 and took three centuries to finish. The facade is ridiculously ornate and the black and white striped exterior is pretty unusual. Churches like this fascinate me because every time I walk by it I notice some cool detail that I didn’t notice before.

The inside is just as unusual. Those black and white stripes can be a little disorienting. And check out that organ!

The real show stopper, however, are Luca Signorelli’s frescoes, Giudizio Universale, painted in 1499. The primary four pieces are quite something. There’s a lot of gruesome things going on in the one titled Hell.

Orvieto has a lot of narrow, winding, stone streets which gives some interesting views sometimes. That Duomo is insane!

The medieval inhabitants of Orvieto didn’t just build on top of the hill, they also dug a network of around 1200 caves underneath the city. I only got to explore a small portion of these on a tour, but it was pretty interesting. They used to make olive oil in the caves because it wouldn’t go bad in the summer heat or freeze in the winter.

Apparently, pigeons were a primary source of food back then. They would make pigeon coups in the rock, the pigeons were free to come and go so they fed themselves, and when someone ordered palombo they could just come downstairs and grab one. Palombo is still on the menu at many restaurants, but I opted not to try it.

From the subterranean to the towering heights. It was just 166 steps up to the top of the 13th century Torre del Moro for 360° views of beautiful Orvieto.

Orvieto’s Etruscan museum was a treat. The highlight was the famous Etruscan Venus statue. The museum also afforded great views of the Duomo, where I took the main picture of it seen above.

Here’s a random piece from the museum that I liked and for some reason I found very interesting. During the Greek and Persian wars in the 5th century BC, this random Greek farmer, Echetlaeus, jumped in and killed like a gazillion Persians with his plow! They couldn’t honor him, though, because he vanished after that, but his legend lives on.

Chiesa di Sant’Andrea was built in the 12th century over what was once the Roman Forum. The unusual tower is a testament to the towns medieval history though.

And finally, at the far west end of Orvieto is its oldest church, Chiesa di San Giovenale, built in 1000. The remaining frescoes inside were pretty striking.

My day trip from Orvieto took me to Civita di Bagnoregio. I’m really not liking Italy’s system of having to buy bus tickets from local stores. I must have walked three miles back and forth just trying to find the right store to buy the tickets, but I finally got it worked out and had a good day. Civita di Bagnoregio was just any other medieval hilltop town, but in this case, the hill slowly eroded leaving only this gravity defying and photogenic place. It was pretty foggy in the morning, though, so my view was less than stellar.

As I got closer it slowly came into view. Because of the erosion of the hillside, currently the only way to get to it is by this footbridge. Cars are not allowed. They get their supplies by motorcycle and little miniature tractors.

The town is extremely tiny and didn’t take long to explore at all. There’s really not much to see or do there, although it’s very pretty and the views from the abrupt edges of the surrounding countryside are amazing.

The fog had mostly cleared out by the time I was leaving so I did get some decent pics eventually. Like I said, it’s very photogenic.

I’ll end this post with a cool nighttime pic of the Duomo since this is how I ultimately said goodbye to Orvieto. Now, don’t stray too far because my next stop is going to be a quick one too. More to come…