Artificial cavities

The cliff on which the city of Orvieto stands is riddled with an unbelievable number of artificial cavities - an intricate labyrinth of tunnels, galleries, cisterns, wells, quarries and cellars. It is in the bowels of the city that the memory of the succession of inhabitants who once lived on top of the "Rock" still lingers on.
A guided visit, that winds its way easily through the caves, enables the tourist to fully appreciate this unique underground world. It is in a sense a journey in a timeless dimension, which narrates the story. of the geology of the rock and the specific aspects of Orvieto's history: the colombari, the pozzolana quarries, the underground oil-press.
The solution to the problems inherent in settling on the Rock have always been sought for underground: the search for water and the preservation of food. The micro climate to be found in the caves made it possible to preserve both solid and liquid provisions, including wine. The fact that one of the names by which Orvieto was known in antiquity was Oinarea, "where wine flows", gives us an idea of the great importance of wine at the time, and still today "Orvieto" is a wine well-known to connoisseurs throughout the world.