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ORVIETO (anc. Volsinii (q.v.)
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See also:ORVIETO (anc. See also:Volsinii (q.v.) , later Urbs Vetus, whence the See also:modern name), a See also:town and episcopal see of the See also:province of See also:Perugia, See also:Italy, on the Paglia, 78 M. by See also:rail N. by W of See also:Rome. Pop. (1901) 882o (town); 18,208 (See also:commune). It crowns an isolated See also:rock, 1933 ft. above See also:sea-level, 64o ft. above the See also:plain,
commanding splendid views, and is approached on the See also:east by a funicular railway from the station. The town is very picturesque, both from its magnificent position and also from the unusually large number of See also:fine 13th-See also:century houses and palaces which still exist in its streets. The See also:chief See also:glory of the See also:place is its splendid See also:cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin; it was begun before 1285, perhaps by Arnolfo di Cambio, on the site of an older See also: It was begun in 1310, but the upper part was not completed till the 16th century. The mosaics are modern, and the whole church has suffered greatly from See also:recent restoration. The four See also:wall-surfaces that flank the three western doorways are decorated with very beautiful See also:sculpture in See also:relief, once ornamented with See also:colour, the designs for which, according to See also:Burckhardt, must be ascribed to the architect of the whole, though executed by other (but still Sienese, not See also:Pisan) hands. The Madonna above the See also:principal portal falls into the same See also:category. The subjects are scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and the Last See also:Judgment, with See also:Heaven and See also:Hell. In the interior on the north, the Cappella del Corporale possesses a large See also:silver See also:shrine, resembling in See also:form the cathedral facade, enriched with countless figures in relief and subjects in translucent coloured enamels—one of the most important specimens of See also:early silversmith's See also:work that yet exists in Italy. It was begun by Ugolino Vieri of Siena in 1337, and was made to contain the See also:Holy See also:Corporal from See also:Bolsena, which, according to the See also:legend, became miraculously stained with See also:blood during the celebration of See also:mass to convince a sceptical See also:priest of the truth of the See also:doctrine of See also:transubstantiation. This is supposed to have happened in 1263, while See also:Urban IV. was residing at Orvieto; and it was to commemorate this See also:miracle that the existing cathedral was built. On the south See also:side is the See also:chapel of S. Brizio, separated from the nave by a fine 14th-century wrought-See also:iron See also:screen. The walls and vault of this chapel are covered with some of the best-preserved and finest frescoes in Italy—among the noblest See also:works of Fra See also:Angelico and Luca See also:Signorelli, mainly painted between 1450 and 15o1—the latter being of especial importance in the See also:history of See also:art owing to their great See also:influence on See also:Michelangelo in his early days. The choir stalls are fine and elaborate specimens of tarsia and See also:rich See also:wood-See also:carving—the work of See also:Antonio and Pietro della Minella (1431-1441). In 16th-century sculpture the cathedral is especially rich, containing many statues, See also:groups and See also:altar-reliefs by See also:Simone Mosca and Ippolito Scalza. See also:Close by are two Gothic buildings, the See also:bishop's See also:palace (1264) and the Palazzo dei Papi (begun in 1296), the latter with a huge See also: It is signed Hoc opvs FECIT ARNVLFvs. It was imitated by Giovanni See also:Pisano in his monument to See also:Pope See also:Benedict XI. at Perugia. Among the laterbuildings, a few may be noted by Sanmicheli of See also:Verona, who was employed as chief architect of the cathedral from 1509 to 1528. The fortress built in 1364 by Cardinal See also:Albornoz has been converted into a public See also:garden. The well, now disused, called Il pozzo di S. Patrizio, is one of the chief curiosities of Orvieto. It is 200 ft. deep to the See also:water-level and 42 ft. in See also:diameter, cut in the rock, with a See also:double winding inclined See also:plane, so that asses could ascend and descend to carry the water from the bottom. It was begun by the architect Antonio da See also:San Gallo the younger in 1527 for See also:Clement VII., who fled to Orvieto after the See also:sack of Rome, and was finished by Simone Mosca under See also:Paul III. The town appears under the name Obp(3t',(3evros in See also:Procopius (See also:Bell. Goth. &c.), who gives a somewhat exaggerated description of the site, and as Urbs Vetus elsewhere after his See also:time. See also:Belisarius starved out Vitiges in 539, and became See also:master of it. In 6o6 it See also:fell to the See also:Lombards, and was recovered by See also:Charlemagne. It formed part of the donation of the Countess See also:Matilda to the papacy. Communal See also:independence had probably been acquired as early as the end of the loth century, but the first of the popes to reside in Orvieto and to recognize its communal See also:administration was See also:Hadrian IV. in 1157. It was then governed by consuls, but various changes of constitution supervened in the direction of enlarging the governing See also:body. Its sympathies were always Guelphic, and it was closely allied with See also:Florence, which it assisted in the See also:battle of Monteaperto (126o), and its constitution owed much to her See also:model. In 1199 the first podestd was elected, and in 1251 the first capitano del popolo. There were considerable See also:Guelph and Ghibelline struggles even at Orvieto, the latter party being finally destroyed in 1313, and the representatives of the former, the Monaldeschi, obtaining the supreme See also:power. The territory of Orvieto extended from See also:Chiusi to the See also:coast at See also:Orbetello, to the See also:Lake of Bolsena and the See also:Tiber. The various branches of the Monaldeschi continually fought among themselves, however, and the quarrels of two of them divided the See also:city into two factions under the names of Muffati and Mercorini, whose struggles lasted until 146o, when See also:peace was finally made between them. After this See also:period Orvieto was peaceably ruled by papal See also:governors, and had practically no history. Owing to the strong Guelphic sympathies of the in-habitants, and the inaccessible nature of the site, Orvieto was constantly used as a place of See also:refuge by the popes. In 1814 it became the chief town of a See also:district, in 1831 of a province, and in 186o with See also:Umbria became part of the See also:kingdom of Italy, and became a subprefecture. See L. Fumi, Il Duomo d' Orvieto e i suoi restauri (Rome, 1891); Orvieto, See also:note storiche e biografiche (Citta di See also:Castello, 1891), and other works. (T. 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