Orvieto

Orvieto stands on a flat-topped butte of tufa rising sheer from the plain, which made it defensible and which the Etruscans understood first. The cathedral, begun in 1290, has a facade of banded stone, mosaic and carved relief that is among the most elaborate in Italy, and inside, the San Brizio chapel holds Signorelli's Last Judgement, painted around 1500 and studied closely by Michelangelo. Beneath the town the soft rock is honeycombed with well over a thousand caves, cellars, cisterns and dovecotes cut over twenty-five centuries, a section of which can be walked. The Pozzo di San Patrizio is a well with two spiral ramps that never meet.

What you actually see

• The cathedral facade - banded stone, mosaic and carved relief.
• Signorelli's Last Judgement - in the San Brizio chapel.
• Orvieto Underground - the caves and cisterns cut into the tufa.
• Pozzo di San Patrizio - a well with two interlocking spiral ramps.

When to go

April to June and September to October. The town is on the main Rome to Florence railway, which makes it an easy day from either. A funicular runs from the station up to the town. Umbria Jazz Winter fills the town between Christmas and New Year.

Honest expectations

The cathedral facade is frequently under scaffolding for conservation. The underground tours run on a fixed schedule with limited English departures. Day-trippers from Rome fill the main street in the middle of the day. The funicular closes earlier than visitors expect.

Nearby

Civita di Bagnoregio is half an hour; Assisi and Perugia are east.