Saturday July 23rd

 Catch-Up: Orvieto

We arrived in Orvieto on Thursday after an early start (03:15!) and, much to our relief, our AirBnb turned out to be air conditioned. The place is spectacular, positioned atop an (extinct) volcanic plug- See the Wikipedia article. Most spectacular is The Duomo, visible from our AirBnb. 

The Duomo from our AirBnb
After unwinding we went out in the twilight and got an initial feel for the scale of The Duomo, to be explored the next day. 


The Duomo by night
Having had a long and hot journey, we thoroughly deserved a three-scoop gelato. 
Polishing off a three-scoop!
On Friday we took it very easy and took a walk around The Duomo later in the day. It’s impossible to get across the scale of the place with iPhone photos but, in the following pictures, use the people to get an idea of this. 
Main entrance from the far end of the aisle 

Main entrance from the same viewpoint, zoomed to see people for scale 
In the picture above, the “window” is of a thin sheet of alabaster, looking like a slice of quartz or even bluejohn. This lets some light in but less heat. Some windows were partially alabaster and partially stained glass. 
Lower section: alabaster, upper section: stained glass
From outside, the alabaster panes just looked as if the windows had been blocked off. 
Alabaster “windows” from outside. Outer and central windows are glazed at the top
For scale again, you may just make out Jacinta at the base of the second pillar from the right. 
Jacinta at base of central pillar
Today, Saturday, we visited the Museo Archiologico Nationale and the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. Almost museum overload- just a few snaps. 





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