After admiring the beautiful view, we went downhill a ways into a well. The well was called Purgatory or something, I believe due to the long walk down and the reflection time you would do while down there. It has a double helix stair, so that donkeys could go down and up the stairs carrying jugs of water without running into one another. A similar technique was used by Vetruvius when he designed a brothel, but that was so you couldn't be seen leaving while other people were coming. Anyways, they asked who wanted to go into the well, and I said yes, not knowing I was signing up for a gym membership. There were 220-some stairs or more, and the entire way down is dimly lit and made of uneven cobblestones, since Italy doesn't know what safety codes are. There were also NO handrails. Oh, and did I mention the lighting in the well is created by the void in the center, so you can see to the top and bottom from wherever you are - terrifying! Anyways, I was told I looked like I had gone through hell when I came out, probably because Kelsey and I ran the entire way up just trying to get out. Everyone was panting and stripping off their coats when we got out of the well. Definately burned off all the carb's I have eaten this semester!
After the work out, we took a bus to the Duomo in town. This cathedral houses the corporal that has Jesus' blood stained on it. There was a priest in Orvieto who was doubting transubstatiation, which is the belief that the eucharist being Jesus's real body and blood. One day as he was celebrating Mass, he was thinking about these doubts. As he held the host up, blood dripped from it and stained the corporal on the altar. It is now in a case with beautiful adornments around it. As for the walls enclosing the corporal, it was very sad to see that the frescoe was not preserved, and there was actually graffiti etched into the walls, unlike the preserved frescoe described below.
Across from where the corporal is, there is a room famous for its frescoe. We were not allowed to take pictures. The frescoe depicts mostly how we are going to be judged at the end of the world and what heaven will be like and what hell will be like. There is an immense amount of thought and detail put into it, and everything has a meaning. For example, the painter depicted a woman as a prostitute on the side that shows life on earth. On the afterlife side, that same woman is being taken away by a demon. Historians believe that woman was supposed to represent the artist's girlfriend, who was unfaithful to him. Note to self: don't cheat on an artist or he will put you in a frescoe.
The rest of the cathedral was just lovely, and there are a couple fun facts about it. The windows shown below that have a warm glow to them are actually thinly sliced stone. Also, the top half of the church is not layers of stone, but rather paint applied to make it look like the stone continues, while being economical.
After the cathedral we visited Orvieto Underground. A lot of people don't know about the intense system of caves and tunnels under the city of Orvieto. Almost every household has access to a cave from their home, each for different reasons. The first one we saw was a factory used to make olive oil. The conditions were just right to produce and store the oil. There was a large platform that had a gradual slope towards the center where the hole olives would be placed. Donkeys would be attached to a system that turned a wheel around the surface, crushing the olives and draining the oil into a container underneath. The second system of caves we saw was a bunch of pigeon holes. The Etruscans used to breed the pigeons for guava to use as fertilizer and to eat the baby pigeons. Our tour guide (who was smaller than Kelsey) explained to us that baby pigeons are more tender than full grown ones. Our tour guide also told us about how mysterious the Etruscans were, so there is still a lot of research being done to learn more about them and their practices.
After we saw a bunch of caves and walked up and down an excessive amount, we finally went to find some food. We were recommended by the Orvieto group to eat at Pizzeria Charlie, but after walking up and down the streets for 20 minutes we gave up and chose the next pizzeria we saw. We ended the day with some gelato, I got raspberry and chocolate, which tasted like the wall of chocolate from PF Chang's. I've decided to make a list of different combinations and see how delicious it can get. Next on the list is banana and chocolate, and coming during spring time is lemon and strawberry. We took our gelato to a sunny spot on some stairs and just relaxed, talked and sketched until we had to catch the funiculare down to our train. We made it home for dinner, and if I recall correctly I didn't spill anything....I don't think....there was a drip of gelato on my shirt but I wiped it up before it soaked in.
Cara Marie
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