We arrived in the new town at the foot of the hill at 11:42 and wanted to get to the Duomo on top of the 1,000 foot high tuffa mesa before it closed at 12:45 so we went straight out of the train station, across the piazza and bought tickets for the exciting fuiculare ride to the top.
A sheer tufa outcrop, the remains of ancient volcanoes fractured by millennia of ice, sun and rain, rises abruptly from the plain and supports the spectacular medieval city of Orvieto. On top of this unique crag, the town, made out of the same tufa, looks much the same as it has for the last 500 years, crowned by its stupendous candy-striped cathedral.
We got to enjoy the gleaming mass of mosaics, stained glass and sculpture that make up the facade of one of Italy's liveliest cathedrals in the noon-day sun and it was pretty awe inspiring.
Since the outside of the cathedral reminded us of the Duomo in Siena we expected the inside to be just as beautiful, but it was actually kind of plain. The biggest draw inside the Duomo was the Chapel of San Brizio where you are surrounded by frescoes with vivid scenes crammed with figures depicting the Apocalypse -- lots of hell and damnation!
From the Duomo we walked to a park on the very edge of the cliff to find a spectacular viewpoint over the valley below.
We wandered around Orvieto's Medieval historic center which is full of shops selling ceramics. The town is divided into four quarters and the residents of these four districts compete in a lively equestrian competition on Piazza del Popolo during the annual Corpus Christi celebration -- much like the Palio in Siena. We found the pretty L Antica Piazzetta where we split an excellent pizza diavola (with pepperoni) wine and beer and a tiramisu for desert.
On our way back to the funicular we walked around the Rocca (Fort) which dominates the eastern end of Orvieto. It was built by Cardinal Albornoz in 1364 to bolster the power of the papacy but the locals destroyed it soon afterwards. Not much remains today but the ramparts are an excellent vantage point from which to enjoy views over the plains below.
We caught the 3:24 regional train back to Rome Termini train station and took the #40 bus back to our aparment. We went into the Antico Caffe Castellino near our aparment for our afternoon gelato, wine and beer break and bought a strawberry beignet for desert since we planned on finishing up the last of our "picnic" food for dinner in the apartment. We watched some of what we hoped would be the last of the election coverage before heading to bed.
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