Pozzo della Cava :: Orvieto :: the access from the street

the big arch
along the street

the well
from the arch

the well-curb

the stone plaque

other pictures are available
in the pages about
Pozzo della Cava's structure
and Pozzo della Cava's history

place: entrance of the itinerary

depth: ground floor

discovery: from time immemorial

restorations:
the arch and the well-curb: 2004-'05

first opening:
entrance with closed arch: 1986
Renaissance arch: 2004
well-curb and new entrance: 2005

the Pozzo [well] della Cava

:: the access from Via della Cava ::

When Pope Clement VII, fleeing from the Sack of Rome, took refuge at Orvieto, before commissioning St. Patrick's Well, ordered the excavation of the Pozzo della Cava, in Via della Cava [the street called "Cava", or quarry].

A big arch was made in the wall in which was the Etruscan little well, so that the spring water could be drawn from the road.

In 1646 the town authorities ordered the closure of the arch and the well, as is demonstrated by an ancient stone tablet, originally situated at the well head in Via della Cava.

During the first months of 2004, the big arch of Pozzo della Cava was be re-opened, to recreate the entrance like the original Renaissance one.

Now Pozzo della Cava has a new beautiful well-curb, and we descovered that the stone plaque was made using an ancient sculpted stone taken from the underground chambers of the nearby St. Andrew's Church or from the ancinet Holy Virgin Mary Carhedral.