Orvieto - Walk I
From Piazza del Duomo to San Francesco |
with the Convento di San Francesco to the left
This walk starts in the Piazza del Duomo, which surrounds three sides of the Duomo. This space was the home of the ecclesiastical powers of Orvieto from at least the 10th century, when it contained the earlier cathedral (see below) and the bishop's palace.
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| Palazzo Vescovile The Palazzi Papali are to the left |
the Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo; and
A fourth papal palace, which is known as Palazzo Soliano, is immediately to the right of modern Palazzo Vescovile.
[Soliano seems to mean "south" and is applied also to the south door of the Duomo, the street that runs along the southern edge of the city and the city gate at the end of it.]
The loggia in front of the lower room of Palazzo Soliano contains a number of interesting Roman remains found in the surrounding area. These include:
an inscribed milestone (107 AD). The inscription records that the Emperor Trajan built a new road from Volsinii (presumably Volsinii Novi) to the border of the Clusians (i.e. to Chiusi). This was its 17th milestone: no information survives as to the circumstances of its discovery.
a marble figure (ca. 100 AD) known as the Venus of Pagliano. Riccardo Mancini discovered it in 1889-90 during excavations of the Roman port at Pagliano.
The entrance in the loggia leads to the ground floor room of Palazzo Soliano, which houses the Museo Emilio Greco.
The earlier cathedral mentioned above was known as Santa Maria Episcopatus or Santa Maria Prisca, and it had a secondary dedication to St Brictius (San Brizio). There are a number of theories relating to the site of this church, which was demolished in 1297.
Although it was formally the bishop's church, its day to day running was in the hands of the canons of the Cathedral Chapter, who also had their own church in the piazza that was dedicated to the Perugian saint, St Constantius (San Costanzo). This church was demolished in ca. 1290 to make way for the present Duomo (see below), and its foundations were discovered under the nave in 1955-6.
The piazza is now dominated by the Duomo, which was begun in 1290 and which remained the site of extraordinary artistic activity well into the 17th century. The Opera del Duomo, which was formed early in the 14th century to oversee the its construction and decoration, soon made its presence felt in the piazza:
It acquired in Palazzo Soliano in 1330 and housed a number of production facilities there.
In 1347, it commissioned a clock (the earliest to be documented in Europe) for the so-called Torre di Maurizio at the north west corner of the piazza.
It also acquired properties on the west side of the piazza in 1359 that later provided the site for its headquarters (see below).
Torre di Maurizio (1347)The Opera del Duomo commissioned this tower in 1347. In the following year, it commissioned a bronze automaton dressed as a
site foreman to strike the hours and thereby regulate the working hours
on the site. The medieval word for a construction site was "muricçio", which led to the recent appellation of the tower as "di Maurizio". |
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The formal layout of the piazza probably began to take shape early in the 15th century when the neat row of houses along its north side was built for the canons. The area in front of the the facade of the Duomo was cleared and leveled in 1556, apparently to a plan made some decades earlier by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. The piazza took on its present appearance in the 19th century with;
the construction of Palazzo Faina and the re-modeling of the Palazzo dell’ Opera del Duomo (on the west side, opposite the facade of the Duomo); and
the re-building of San Giacomo Maggiore and the hospital behind it (at the west end of the south side).
Palazzo Faina (1846-66)This was the site of a palace (13th century) that
had belonged to the Monaldeschi family, which had been
restructured in the 17th century. Count
Claudio Faina built a new palace on the site, which subsequently passed to his son, Eugenio Faina. Eugenio Faina was the impetus behind the two archeological museums that the palace now houses:
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The Parco delle Grotte, to the left of San Giacomo Maggiore, is laid out on land that used to form part of the hospital complex. It offers a lovely view of the Abbazia di SS Severo e
Martirio below. A gate to the right of the terrace
opens onto a short path to a series of grottoes that can be visited (Orvieto Underground).
Orvieto UndergroundGuided
tours organised by the Tourist Office (in palazzo dell' opera del Duomo
- se below) visit two of the many underground grottoes of Orvieto.
These were quarried for tufa blocks and then used for various purposes
from Etruscan times.
For more information, see this site on Orvieto Underground. |
Leave Piazza del Duomo along Via Soliana, which runs behind Palazzo Soliano. The buildings on the right are:
Palazzo Buzi ;
the church and convent of San Bernardino; and
Palazzo Crispo-Marsciano.
Palazzo Buzi (1581)This was the site of a tower house that belonged to the Filippeschi, which Bishop Francesco Monaldeschi acquired in 1281 because Pope Martin IV was occupying Palazzo Vescovile. The tower house is visible (behind Palazzo Soliano) at the top right of the detail illustrated here from a fresco (1357-64) from the Cappella del Corporale, Duomo. This property subsequently passed to the adjacent convent of San Bernardino. Vicenzo Buzi bought the property and the associated vineyard and orchards in 1581. He had it demolished and commissioned Ippolito Scalza to build this palace on the site. Towards the end of the 18th century, the palace belonged to the
Gualterio family. They exchanged its portal for one from their
Palazzo Gualterio (see below), evidently wishing to place the more
impressive portal on their more centrally located palace. The palace passed to the Padri Mercedari in the early 20th century. It is now known as Villa Mercede and offers accommodation. |
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Pope Urban IV displays |
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| Palazzo Buzi |
Palazzo Crispo Marsciano (ca. 1543-80)Cardinal Tiberio Crispo (who was papal governor of Bolsena in the period 1554-61) commissioned Antonio da Sangallo the Younger to design the palace, probably in 1543. It seems that only the ground floor was complete when Sangallo died in Rome three years later. Cardinal Crispo then invited Raffaello da Montelupo (with whom he had close links) to return to Orvieto to work on the project. Work proceeded intermittently, and the palace was still incomplete when both Cardinal Crispo and Raffaelo da Montelupo died in 1566. Ludovico Marsciano bought the incomplete palace in 1582. The work he commissioned, which included the windows in the upper storeys, is attributed to Ippolito Scalza. The property was sold to the convent of San Bernardino in 1618. There are plans to convert the palace into an archeological museum. |
It is possible to take a detour from this point to the site of the Etruscan necropolis and temple of Cannicella. Turn right along the left side of Palazzo Crispo Marsciano and take the spiral steps down to the path around Orvieto. Continue along the path and take the right fork down. Fork left at each of the next two T-junctions (still walking downhill), following signs to B&B Cannicella.
- A left turn, still signed to B&B Cannicella, leads past the the only visible evidence of the excavations of the necropolis (on the left). (The B&B is just beyond, at the end of the lane. There is a large dog in residence, so be careful not to walk uninvited through its gates.)
- Walk back up the lane and turn left to continue downhill to the site of the temple.
You can retrace your steps back up the cliff to continue Walk I. However, an easier (albeit longer) route is possible. Turn left along the second side of the site of the temple and continue to the junction with the Strada Fontana del Lione. At this point, you meet the route of return to the city in Walk IV. Turn left along Strada Fontana del Lione to Porta Postierla and walk along Via Postierla (as in see Walk III). It becomes Via Soliana and takes you back to Palazzo Crispo Marsciano.
Walk back along Via Soliana (or continue along it if you are returning from Canicella via Porta Postierla) and turn right at Piazza Marconi. Continue along Via Nebbia, with the apse of the Duomo and the back of the Palazzi Papali visibe behind the wall on your left. The closed church of Santa Lucia is beyond on the left, at the junction with Via Scalette.
Santa Lucia dei Canonici (1647-9) This church, which belonged to the canons of the Duomo, was also the seat of the Confraternità degli Artisti. It owes its current appearance to its rebuilding in 1647-9, although a portal from the older church can still be seen in the left wall. Until relatively recently, local people celebrated the feast of St Lucy here, giving thanks for the gift of sight. (St Lucy had had her eyes gouged out, and was usually depicted with her eyes on a plate which she offered as a gift to God). |
Turn left at Via Scalette and cross Piazza del Duomo, with other buildings that belonged to the canons now on your right. Turn right along Via del Duomo, which is the ancient thoroughfare that linked the ecclesiastical centre of Orvieto to the two civic centres:
- Piazza del Comune (now della Repubblica - see Walk II); and
- Piazza del Popolo (see Walk III).
The street opens on the right into Piazza Gualterio, in which stand church of San Giuseppe and the huge Palazzo Gualterio.
San Giuseppe (1665)The confraternity of carpenters built this Baroque octagonal church. The altarpiece (late 18th century) on the high altar is a highly venerated image of the Holy Family by Filippo Naldini. |
Palazzo Gualterio (16th century)According to Giorgio Vasari, Simone Mosca designed this palace for Raffaele and Felice Gualterio.
The family lived in the palace until the 19th century, when Filippo Antonio Gualterio (died 1874) lost the family fortune by contributing to the campaign for the unification of Italy. The family's art collection is now exhibited in Palazzo Comunale. The exhibits there also include an inscription that commemorates a stay by the exiled King James III of England in 1725, when he was a guest of Cardinal Filippo Antonio Gualterio (died 1728). |
Take a short detour along Via dei Gualtieri (to the left of San Giuseppe). Palazzo Mangrossi is on the right.
Palazzo Mangrossi (16th century) The façade of this palace uses extraordinary Mannerist reliefs, including the caryatids to either side of the main portal. |
Retrace your steps and continue across Via del Duomo and along Via Luca Signorelli, which runs into Piazza Ippolito Scalza. There are two de-consecrated churches next to each other on the right as the street enters the piazza:
the Chiesa dell’ Annunziata; and
the Chiesa degli Scalzi.
Chiesa dell’ Annunziata (1574)
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Chiesa degli Scalzi (1653-7)Cardinal Fausto Poli, Bishop of Orvieto founded this church, which is also known as the Chiesa dei SS Giuseppe e Giacomo [for the discalced Carmelites ??]. His nephew, Cosimo Poli furnished the design. The facade was not completed until the 19th century. |
The piazza is, of course, named for the architect Ippolito Scalza, who lived in the house (Casa di Ippolito Scalza) at the far end of it.
Casa di Ippolito Scalza (16th century)This house belonged to the Clementini family (see below). Ippolito Scalza is reputed to have lived here, and indeed to have died here in 1617. He is also reputed to have designed the two portals. |
Palazzo Clementini fills the long side of the piazza, on the left.
Palazzo Clementini (1567)Monaldo Clementini commissioned Ippolito Scalza
to build this palace, but it was still incomplete when Cornelio Clementi inherited it in 1577. Francesco clementini left money in his will of 1687 for the completion of the facade. Nevertheless, photographs taken in the 19th century show that it was still barely started at that point. The Commune bought the palace in 1912. It owes its current appearance to the "restoration" of the facade (1937) by Gustavo Giovannoni. The palace now houses the Liceo Classico and the Biblioteca Luigi Fumi. |
Walk the length of Piazza Ippolito Scalza and turn right and then left into Via Albani, which leads to the ex-church of SS Apostoli.
SS Apostoli Filippo e Giacomo (1778 - 1819)The original church on this site was built in 1007 and was one of the seven parish churches of Orvieto. The Jesuits, who arrived in Orvieto in 1621 and were initially established in [Palazzo Sforza Monaldeschi della Cervara ] moved to this site in 1625. They established an adjacent college and rebuilt the church in 1662. The Jesuits were expelled in 1773 and the complex passed to the Seminario Vescovile in 1778. It was rebuilt again at that point and consecrated in 1819. |
The entrance to the what is now the Seminario Vescovile (diocesan seminary) is behind and to the left of it.
Seminario Vescovile (17th century)This was originally a college established by the Jesuits. The building was adapted for the Seminario Vescovile in 1778. [History of Seminario Vescovile ??] |
Walk past the seminary along Via Lattanzi and turn right into Via Clementini. Cross Piazza Buzi and continue under the arch to the junnction with Via Ghibellina.
- The Chiesa del Buon Gesù is opposite, in Piazza Clementini.
- A short detour to the right along Via Alberici leads to Palazzo Saracinelli (at number 11 on the right).
Palazzo Saracinelli (1580)The facade of this palace, which is attributd to Ippolito Scalza, was never completed. The windows on the first floor, which seem to have been built at different times, have inscriptions recording Pantaleone, Bernardino and rancesco Saracinelli. |
Retrace your steps to the Chiesa del Buon Gesù. On leaving the church, turn right along Via Ghibellina passing a number of disused Franciscan buildings on the right:
the ex-church of Sant’ Onofrio, which now forms part of the Monastero del Buon Gesù;
the ex-church of Santa Chiara; (just past number 10); and
the ex-church and hospice of Santa’ Anna dei Padri Riformati (at number 23).
Santa Chiara (14th century)The church was first documented in 1350. Michele Sanmicheli designed a nunnery here for a community of Poor Clares [from San Lodovico ??] in 1520-4. The nuns extended it a few decades later. The church is now closed and in restoration. Part of the nunnery now houses the Istituto Professionale di Stato per l'Industria e l'Artigianato. |
Santa’ Anna dei Padri Riformati (1779)The reformed Franciscan friars from San Lorenzo delle Vigne built this church and an adjacent hospice in order to have a base in the city. The lintel bears a relief of the Franciscan Order and the inscription : “Echarellus de Cartariis MCCCCCII”. [This presumably refers to a member of the Cartari family - why 1502??] |
The old parish church of San Lorenzo de' Arari is opposite the last of these.
Continue
along what has become Via Ippolito Scalza passing the Franciscan
convent on the right and into Piazza dei Febei. Palazzo Coelli is on
the left, opposite the church of San Francesco.
Palazzo Coelli (1580)The Coelli (or Cohelli) family, which built this palace, died out in the 17th century on the death of the writer Giacomo Coelli. The palace then passed to Francesco Maria Febei, Archbishop of Tarsus and commendatory of Santo Spirito, Rome, for whose family the piazza is named. It subsequently passed to a succession of Orvietan familes, the last of which was that of the historian and archivist Luigi Fumi. It now belongs to the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Orvieto and was opened as an exhibition centre after restoration in 2004. |
Detour a little way along Via Beato Angelico to see Palazzo Monaldeschi.
Palazzo Monaldeschi (1570-4)The soldier of fortune, Sforza Monaldeschi della Cervara commissioned
this palace, probably from Simone Mosca, although Ippolito Scalza seems
to have been responsible for its completion. The frescoes (1584) in the rooms on the first floor are attributed to Cesare Nebbia. [The Jesuits, who arrived in Orvieto in 1621, were established until 1625, when they moved to SS Apostoli (see above).] The palace subsequently passed to the Marsciano family. It now houses the Istituto Statale d'Arte. |
Return to Piazza Febei and take Via Lorenzo Maitani alongside the side of San Francesco. (This part of the walk is described in the page on the church and convent). The road leads into a shady square and the restaurant of San Francesco, which occupies part of the ex-convent.
It is possible to follow Via Bonaventura Cerretti as it winds down to the left and, if the gate on the left is open, to take the unmade road (with stunning views) passing the grottoes. This takes you back to the Parco delle Grotte (the release for the gate is on the right) and into Piazza del Duomo.
Alternatively, retrace your steps and turn right into Via Lorenzo Maitani, which leads to the Piazza del Duomo and the end of the walk.