Short journey in space, long journey in time.
Piazza Duomo 23, ticket office of Orvieto Underground - the beginning of a journey back in time. Your guide leads the way, a five-minute walk, to the entrance of the grottos and tunnels that riddle the cliff of Orvieto. Once you cross the threshold and enter this world of the past, easily accessible and well lit, you’re no longer in the year 2012 but begin your journey back in time. Your guide, like Dante’s Virgil, tells you what was here thousands of years ago, when oceans and great forests covered the plain before volcanoes spewed detritus and lava that covered everything. Eventually the butte on which the city now stands was formed and settled. It is here, in the Underground , that you can still find clues to what life, with the Etruscans was like six hundred years before Christ, and in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and finally the nineteen hundreds. So suspend disbelief, leave the twenty-first century behind and become a traveler in time.
duration: about 45 minutes
A shady green area prepared for picnics and only a hundred metres from the Duomo, a big corner of the countryside… in the middle of the city.
The grottoes where the guided tour of “Orvieto Underground” takes place open onto the “Park of the Grottoes”. A vast green area prepared for picnics, organised on wide terraces sloping down to the panoramic border of the Rupe on which Orvieto stands. Shaded by big pines and airy pergolas, cheered by the flutter of wings of numerous bird species and by the lightning appearance of squirrels, it has a surprising feature: it is situated in the heart of the city, on the border with Piazza Duomo, tourist navel of the city.
Visitors who have just admired the polychromatic and beaming façade of the Golden Lily of cathedrals need only to walk less than a hundred metres to find themselves immersed in an unexpected and peaceful corner of countryside. Here one can comfortably eat a packed lunch or, upon booking, have a meal on a tray. Here you can easily eat your packed lunch or, upon request, book a light lunch.
Particularly ideal for receiving school trips and groups, the Park can accommodate about a hundred people; in the event of bad weather a big grotto, generally used for concerts, shows and conferences, offers an alternative refuge with a charming table that becomes one of the most enjoyable and lasting recollections of the day.
The Park of the Grottos can also be hired for private parties. In this case it also offers a wide square where it is possible to play music and dance, as well as several places purposely equipped for cooking tasty barbecues.
The best day… in the oldest place. Celebrating one’s marriage at “Orvieto Underground” means getting married under the good auspices of the ancient Etruscans who dug the grotto.
Since 2002 the Municipality of Orvieto has authorised the celebration of marriages in a civil ceremony inside the grottoes of “Orvieto Underground”. It is therefore possible to add to the excitement of the best day the magic emanating from one of the oldest places in the city. The room selected is called “Grotto of the Old Mill” where the monumental remains of a oil mill from XIV century dominate a wide underground room of Etruscan origin. It is therefore a very original location, ideal for those who wish to give the ceremony a special touch, and to receive guests in a place that will certainly amaze and stay in everyone’s memory for a long time. And, by the way… best wishes from “Orvieto Underground”!