Orvieto is a small town in Umbria between Florence and Rome. It sits on a butte made of volcanic tuffa rock high above surrounding cities. It’s gorgeous, sleek and free from the tourists crowds. It’s known for its easy drinking vino biancho, Orvieto Classico and truffles. Did you hear me? Truffles. Fresh truffles were grated over our steak and pasta at dinner. It was heavenly.

The city sits above 1200 or so caves dug through the malleable tuffa rock. We toured a few that were used for making olive oil, housing pigeons for their dinner and for storing animals during cold or hot seasons. The ones we toured were built in the third century B.C. Crazy! Many of the caves are currently filled with rubble from a landslide in 2011 while many others are used for storing wine. Apparently if you buy a house in Orvieto you get a private cave entrance from your house to store your wine or to relax in on a hot day.

In the thirteenth century Pope Urban IV hid out in Orvieto during rough times. He sat safe high above the city but worried about a water source so he commissioned a huge 90 meter well to be built. We toured the well and admired the engineering.

My favorite church of all was in Orvieto. Unfortunately the photos are inaccessible but use your google machine to check it out.