THE POZZO DELLA CAVA IN ORVIETO – UMBRIA

di Benedetta Tintillini

Three cave complexes can be visited in Orvieto, very different one from the other: the famous St. Patrick’s Well , the Mill of Santa Chiara and the Pozzo della Cava.
The cliff of Orvieto, hides an endless series of caves and tunnels (1204 are the explored ones) excavated along 28 centuries of history; that’s why the Pozzo della Cava is so amazing and particular, here we can admire a series of artificial cavities of very different eras, from the Etruscans to the Renaissance.
It is located in the medieval quarter of Orvieto. As it was impossible to expand the city due to the particular shape of the cliff, the inhabitants were forced to transform and readapt the underground cellars, according to their actual needs; that explains the constant changes and transformations of the cavities.
The water supply in case of siege was the need that caused the creation of several wells, the first to be realized was the Pozzo della Cava.
But let’s order !
In the first room at the road level (the rooms at this level were used as workshops or stables, the upper floors were used as houses), there is a furnace of ceramics from the Middle Ages. Part of the chimney and the furnace it’s still

THE FASCINATING MYSTERIES OF NARNI UNDERGOUND

by Benedetta Tintillini

 
Every time we look at the heritage of our past, we know, we retrace deeds and stories of men. But what is very fascinating in Narni Underground is that these men have a name and a surname, and wait for us to tell us their story.
Narnia , which takes its name from the river Nera (Naar, river) that flows at its bottom, is a city of charm, rich in history and architectural and artistic treasures, its complex morphology makes it extremely attractive for the beauty you can enjoy turning every corner.
We go inside the Dominican Monastery , the seat of the Holy Office in Narni , which was destroyed during the Second World War and its memory, apparently, faded very soon.
At first we enter in a church that was completely covered with frescoes. With a painted ceiling where you see a starry sky with the moon and the sun, even if the decoration is partially disappeared. 

TODI UNDERGROUND : THE “Fabbrica della Piana”

by Benedetta Tintillini

Among olive groves and pine trees, inside the Parco della Piana, a pleasant green area close to the town of Todi, lies the charming Fontana dei Bottini. Delicious in its simplicity and in its functions, with less than 150 years of life, the fountain tells us of a simple peasant life that seems so far away in time. Built in 1872 , it is called “dei Bottini” because it is supplied by small galleries by barrel vaults called Bottini. It consists of three basins, with different functions: one for the watering of animals and two for cloths washing, one for soaping and one for rinsing.

This fountain was, and is, fed by water drained from the galleries to be visited .

The nineteenth-century galleries are fully accessible even to the people less accustomed to this kind of experience, passable on foot and in extreme safety .

The bricks used for the masonry works were made with the material of the excavations, brought outside, worked in a furnace built ​​for this purpose, and reintroduced into the form of bricks.