Orvieto

Orvieto, a city in the Italian province of Perugia, 78 miles NNW. of Rome, crowns an isolated tufa rock, which rises 765 feet above the river Paglia, and 1327 above sea-level. The cruciform cathedral (1290-1580), one of the most beautiful and richly decorated specimens of Italian Gothic, is built of black and white marble, and measures 295 feet by 109. The façade is unsurpassed in richness of material, and in the beauty of its mosaics, sculptures, and elaborate ornamentation. The interior also is magnificently decorated with sculptures and with paintings by Luca Signorelli, Fra Angelico, &c. The bishop's palace and St Patrick's Well (1527-40), with its 250 steps, are also noteworthy. Pop. 7304. Orvieto, called in the 7th century A.D. Urbs Vetus—of which its present name is a corruption—has by some been supposed to occupy the site of the Etruscan Volsini. In the middle ages it gave shelter to thirty-two popes. See works by Gruner (Leip. 1858), Berir (Lond. 1884), and Piccolomini (Siena, 1885).