orvieto caves

My wife passed on this during our first visit and regretted it. Don't make the same mistake. The tour gives you a real feel for how Etruscans survived in Orvieto before they were conquered by the Romans. Don't miss it. After all you can only shop and drink wine for so many hours each day!

Only four of us due to it being out of season and I think that it would be very different if there were a large number of people. Very well informed guide walked us from the tourist information office to the nearby caves. A very interesting tour but some of the tunnels are very narrow, be careful not to wear anything too smart!A very well worthwhile trip and a good way to see something for which Orvieto is very famous.

The cave system or at least what we were able to see is really amazing. It is unbelievable how vast they are and even more amazing when told of how many people occupied them!

The geology and history of these caves are fascinating and while the tour gives an insight, you are left wanting to experience more

It was a very warm day and the caves were lovely and cool! The tour guide and diagrams used to explain the geology and events were very interesting. Though the idea of pigeon meat being your only source of meat didn't appeal. It showed how resourceful people can be in times of difficulty. But as in a lot of places in Italy, patience is a virtue, as everything seems to run on a different time frame.

There are over 1200 caves dug in the tuff under Orvieto. The first were dug by Etruscans looking for water. Most are private, but there is a great little tour, Orvieto Underground, which is very interesting.

Underground history spanning from Etruscan times all the way to modern history- the tour of Orvieto caves is well worth your time.

Under the city streets of Orvieto, in the Tuscany region of Italy lies the old "City Underground" featuring a series of tunnels and caves dug by Etruscans living 3,000 years ago. As part of an inexpensive city tour package allowing access to all the ancient and medieval attractions in this beautiful mountaintop city the "underground" offers a glimpse of everyday living for thousands of years. When Italy was made of up hundreds of city states who often were at war with each other, the safest and most defensible place to live was on the top of a mountain. The enemy had to advance up the mountainside to advance and was always in plain view. Unfortunately, the people living on the mountain were unable to come down when their enemies surrounded them. They had to dig under the city to mine the soft volcanic rock to make the bricks to build their city, and and to dig wells to get water. In the underground caves that resulted from mining, they thrashed wheat in stone mills, raised pigeons for food, and created private storage areas and escape routes for its inhabitants. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, spoke multiple languages including English, and made the visit definitely worthwhile. PS: The guide told us that there are still two restaurants in Orvieto that serve pigeon and guess what, it tasted pretty good.

This is one of the things that makes Orvieto so special. Seems a lot of residents have their own personal caves too! Interesting that they bred pigeons for food in these caves, as well as milling flour using donkeys - all underground! Apparently made a great shelter from everything, but the main reason for the caves was because yes, a great fortified hill, but how to get water??? Wonderful history and a lovely cool place on a hot day, too! Not to be missed.

The tour of the caves was very informative and unsusual. There were several lookout over the countryside that were beautiful at sunset.

The Orvieto Underground tour opens up a whole world below the surface. The tour groups are small (around a dozen people), and the guides are easily heard. Note that this is Not for those fearful of small spaces. There are treasures to view in the caves. But narrow passageways and dark, tight spaces will make some anxious. In addition to learning how the caves were created and used throughout history, you will be treated to unique hillside views through old windows and gates. The perspective of peering out from the side of this tiny hill town is incredible.

Next door to the information centre in Piazza Duomo is where you get the tickets for the underground tour. We booked for a 11 am. tour which took us into two caves systems which are open to the public. One of the unique things about Orvieto is the man made caves under most of the homes reached by steps from inside the homes, there are over a thousand of them, they are about 14 metres down and in lots of cases they are still in use today as they have been for centuries . They were use for numerous purposes including workshops, wine cellars, animal storage and pigeon breeding and of course the temperature was always nice and cool .Some go back to pre Roman to the Etruscans and are up to 3000 years old. The tour was very good and took a bit over an hour, the tour guide was excellent and knew her history. A lot of the caves had wells dug in them down to the water level 50 to 60 metres below. Just imagine the work involved digging these wells and caves.one of the reasons for the caves and wells and the pigeon breeding was that if the city came under attack and was put under siege they could survive as they had water and meat, very clever.If in Orvieto a tour of the caves and to learn the history of them is a must and well worth it.

Very interesting to see how caves carved in in the volcanic rock under the town supported such activities as wine making, pressing of olives to make olive oil and the many ancient pigeon cotes where pigeons were raised for their meat. one cave even served as a bomb shelter. Apparently some of these caves are accessible from the buildings above.

You can only see them with a tour guide....well worth the hour and few Euros it cost. The history was interesting and amazing!

This was a last minute decision and I'm very glad we went. It takes a little over an hour to do, but it gives great insight into the history of Orvieto and the early Etruscans. Well worth the time.