History
of Orvieto/1
Set on a tufa platform at 325m a.s.l.,
Orvieto tells an antique and suggestive story. It has
been inhabited since the bronze and iron ages and was
an important Etruscan city.
At that time its name was Velzna (for others Volsinii
Veteres). Nearby there was a famous Etruscan sanctuary
“Fanum Voltumnae” a place where the inhabitants
of Etruria went on pilgrimage not only for religious
celebrations but also for political manifestations.
After the Etruscan splendor, which was at its peak
between the IV and VI centuries B.C.(testified by the
extraordinary tombs and artifacts found in the city’s
museums) a period of decadence and exile followed. In
fact in 264 the Romans destroyed the city forcing its
inhabitants to live in Bolsena (Volsinii Novi) Nothing
was left of the splendid city but ruins and abandonment,
ignored by history for several centuries.
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