Pozzo della Cava - Orvieto
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Pozzo della Cava - Orvieto

The Pozzo della Cava is an underground archaeological complex in the city of Orvieto featuring important finds dating from the Etruscan period to the Renaissance. Its name is linked to the presence of a quarry for building materials exploited in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where it is still possible to admire the marks left by the extraction of blocks.

This masterpiece was manually excavated in a particular type of lithoid tuff known as “Orvieto ignimbrite”, the same stone on which the city was built.

In 2023, this grand hydraulic work was included in the UNESCO-IHP Global Network of Water Museums programme for its invaluable historical and cultural discoveries related to water research, collection and preservation over a span of 25 centuries.

An impressive hydraulic work

The structure of the well, with a total depth of 36 metres, consists of two parts: the larger one, circular in shape, has a diameter of approximately 3.40 metres, next to which is a rectangular section shaft dating back to the Etruscan period. The deeper section was built between the 5th-6th centuries B.C. in order to check for the presence of potential aquifers. Along the steep walls of the shaft one can still admire carved notches, called “pedarole”, made to facilitate climbing up and down.

The original Etruscan structure was expanded by Pope Clement VII, who took refuge in Orvieto to escape the Sack of Rome in 1527, with the intention of ensuring access to a source of spring water in case of future sieges.

The work inspired the renowned Renaissance architect Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1494-1546) who, after using tuff extracted from the well for the construction of Palazzo Pucci, was so impressed by it that he modelled the Pozzo della Rocca, today known as Pozzo di San Patrizio (St. Patrick’s Well), after it.

In 1646, the municipal authorities ordered its closure, as evidenced by an inscription on a plaque originally placed near the well’s parapet. Although the reason is not documented, it is likely that the closure was ordered during the War of Castro to prevent enemy troops from entering the city by using the well as an access point.

The well remained forgotten until its rediscovery in December 1984 during renovation works carried out by Tersilio Sciarra, the owner of a house in the Orvieto district. The discovery of a cavity in the tuff revealed a hidden corner beneath Orvieto, bringing forgotten treasures back to light.

The Well of the Quarry - Orvieto
The Well of the Quarry - Orvieto
The Well of the Quarry - Orvieto

Medieval ceramics and other archaeological finds

The Pozzo della Cava is part of an underground complex consisting of nine communicating rooms, a path leading from the well to the heart of the ancient tuff quarry, the last and largest of the nine caves.

Among the most important discoveries are some production facilities, important evidence of Orvieto’s ceramic craftsmanship between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

The first notable find is a pottery kiln active between the 13th and 16th centuries, where it is possible to see the firing chamber and the beginning of the kiln flue.

In 1998, a second kiln was found, called “muffola”, which testifies to the production of lusterware during the Renaissance.

The well also displays a number of tools used for modelling clay and decorating ceramics, as well as numerous ceramic fragments found in the two kilns. Many of these were preserved inside butti (waste pits), cavities used to dispose of production scraps from the medieval kiln and the Renaissance muffola.

Other butti found in the complex are small shafts connected to medieval dwellings above, which were used to dispose of waste such as bones or other inorganic materials, true archaeological treasure troves.

In addition to these, underneath Orvieto’s medieval houses, there were also several storage levels: the first was the cellaio (storeroom), used for curing meats and storing food supplies. Below it was the cellar, used for storing olive oil and fermenting wine must. Finally, there was the sottocantina (subcellar), one of which still features a “scendibotte”, a special staircase with two side ramps used for rolling barrels from the basement to the lower floor, where the maturation and ageing of Orvieto’s prized wine took place.

This access staircase to the medieval subcellar was built by cutting through a cistern lined with cocciopesto (crushed pottery mortar) dating back to the Etruscan period (V-VI century B.C.). Other water structures from the same period include a dense network of tunnels used to collect seepage water, one of which is located at the bottom of the well.

Finally, the shape of some niches carved into the rock, one of which was probably first repurposed as a fulling mill for textile processing, then used as a clay storage area for the medieval kiln, suggested the presence of burial sites belonging to a rock necropolis dating back to the first phase of Etruscan occupation in Orvieto.

The Nativity Scene in the Well

At the end of the route is a final large cave of Etruscan origin, 14 metres high.

At the far end of the cavity, the bottom of another well was discovered, whose purpose still remains a mystery due to the extraction of tuff during the 18th and 19th centuries for the construction of the large retaining wall supporting the overlying road.

It is here that every year, from December 23 to Epiphany, a captivating nativity scene is set up, meticulously reconstructing historical customs, combining sacred texts, myths and traditions.

For more information, please visit the Pozzo della Cava website.

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