The last full day in Orvieto, Tuesday, 23 September.

We decided to wrap up visits to the remaining sites in the “Visit Orvieto” Checklist published by the city. Our first stop was the Pozzo di San Patrizio or Well of Saint Patrick – yes, an Irish saint. We were at the ticket office when the doors opened at 9:00AM. We were able to take advantage of our ages, securing tickets for 4,50 € versus 6,00 €!

In 1527 at the time of the “sack of Rome,” Pope Clement VII took refuge in Orvieto and commissioned the construction of the well to serve as a water supply in case of a siege of the city. It was called “Pozzo della Rocca” or Well of the Fortress. After a short period in which it also had the name of “purgatory of St. Patrick,” in the 1800s it took the current name of Pozzo di San Patrizio at the behest of the friars of the convent of the Servants who were known to the “legend of the Irish saint” (according to which Patrizio was the guardian of a bottomless cave, the famous “Pozzo di San Patrizio.” Supposedly, one could see the pains of Hell and access Purgatory and maybe glimpse Paradise. It is from this moment that the well, having lost its primary function, had become the object of curiosity and attractiveness of visitors passing through Orvieto.And no, we did not see purgatory!

The well has an ingenious helical system of steps designed such that the routes to go down and up the path of the well (almost 200 feet deep) did not meet each other generating “traffic” problems. To quote the Orvieto Viva marketing sheet, “Today it is a real pleasure to descend to its depths along the 248 steps that compose it.” Not as much fun to climb back up those steps although we did log them as our daily squats workout!

Upon reaching the surface, we took a walk around the walls at the precipice of the Orvieto cliff or bastion. We came upon the Orvieto War Memorial, honoring soldiers killed in pretty much all wars.

Now fully recovered from the morning exercise routine, we stopped off at a bar for a caffè and cornetto or croissant.

Back at the apartment, we grabbed a bag of our earlier purchases and took them down to Mail Boxes, etc., to be shipped back home. On the way back, we snapped a photo of another of the Orvieto landmarks, the Torre del Moro or Tower of the Moor. The Tower stands in the heart of the city and has always been the “clock of the people of Orvieta.” It is located almost perfectly in the center of the city and crossroads from which the four city districts branch off. And while the views from the top are supposed to be spectacular, we did not feel we needed to add another 250 steps up and down to our workout regime today!

Lunch time rolled around and we decided to eat at a trattoria featuring Etruscan-style food. We started with an antipasto of prosciutto, salami, etc. Jim had the umbrichelli (round noodle pasta from this region) and I had tagliatelle con pomodori (tomato sauce.) There was a little local red wine to accompany!

Our final photo from Orvieto is of our apartment exterior and the street on which it is located. It really was a nice place to stay.

Nicola, yes, our wine expert and friend from Chianti, Tuscany, will be down to pick us up tomorrow morning to take us to Abruzzo and my maternal roots. Buona notte.