Orvieto lies on the cusp of three regions: Tuscany, Latium (the region of Rome), and Umbria – a gateway to the area of Central Italy known as TUSCIA, the ancient land of the Etruscan civilisation which flowered before Rome. This blog will embrace the entire area of Tuscia from the sea to the Apennines, from Rome to Florence, a radius of about 90 minutes by car.

Orvieto itself is a city (owing to its having a cathedral) on the top of a rock. The 1842 description by George Dennis, the intrepid 19th century explorer of Etruria, is still reasonably valid.
“Orvieto is a city of six or seven thousand inhabitants, and is neater and cleaner than most towns in this part of the Papal State. The inn, called L’ Aquila Bianca, has tolerable pretensions to comfort. The two great lions are the Duomo, and the Well of San Patrizio. Of the latter with its strange corkscrew descent, I have nothing to say; but how can I be silent on the Duomo?”

Very few cities in the world have changed as little.