Impressions

    The green, covering hills and valleys, fills the eyes with color in this land, where man merges with nature in Franciscan simplicity of ideal of purity and universal love.
    In the middle, the forms of stone seem to appear soft in the clear air, telling the stories of the journey of human consciousness in the centuries.
    Slowly but surely, in the path you acquire awareness of the interpenetration between body and soul, and you feel part of a bigger and more spiritual picture.
    You can stand long in ecstatic contemplation of this surreal dimension, composed of celestial images mixed with parts of your mind, that take shape in the enrapturing silence.
    You can enjoy the sights, as genuine but complete tastes, feeling suddenly that always you needed them and now you cannot do without them.
    In this context, man is converted to man, forgetting his predatory nature of wolf.
    Because even the most restless and wild soul becomes tame, and near the sources bubbling mythological memories, among rivers and lakes that are transferred in majestic waterfalls, the flow of inspiration pervades the whole, to share a superhuman peace.
    At that moment you can capture the depth of better feelings, following paths that seem to get lost in the void between the murmur of the foliage of trees, and thin rays of light filtering through the waving leafs.
    And then, suddenly, the appearance of big and little buildings of ancient stone, which follow each other up to the artistic perfection of the miracles of basilicas, arousing unstoppable sighs.
    Then you can stay so, losing the sense of time, as if you felt reached a longly coveted mental place, where you can stretch gently, enjoying a vague but satisfying sense of happiness.
   

The Duomo of Orvieto

    The construction of the cathedral was started in 1290 by Pope Nicholas IV to celebrate the miracle of Bolsena and to house the sacred linen of the corporal on which the blood dripped from the consecrated host.
    The original building was attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio , but the typical fingerprint of the construction is due to Lorenzo Maitani , who directed the work since 1310.
    In particular, by Maitani is the design of the extraordinary facade, interpreted as a polychrome triptych rich of mosaics and sculptures.
    The masters who succeeded in further work basically kept the original design line, but with additions and reinterpretations close to the taste of later ages.
    To Andrea di Cione , known as Orcagna , is ascribed the magnificent rose window, of the half of '300, while the decorative elements that surround it, and in particular the twelve overhanging kiosks, are already inspired by the Renaissance.
    The front was then completed in full '500, with the erection of three cusps, although the mosaics will be reworked up to '700.
    The whole, while running over several centuries, however, maintains exemplary balance and harmony of lines, with a homogeneous stylistic evolution and a clarity of form and color that make the church one of the most extraordinary gems of Gothic.
    The interior of basilica with three naves, of which the central one is covered by wooden beams, is decorated with horizontal white and black bands of models linked to Siena.
    Numerous are the works of art preserved from the Duomo, distributed mainly in the beautiful chapels.
    In particular, an absolute masterpiece of medieval goldsmith is the Reliquary of the Corporal , tripartite as the facade of the church, which presents thirty-two refined scenes, of gold, silver and translucent enamel, narrating the stories of the Corporal and the Passion of Christ .
    Famous, then, the decoration of St. Brizio Chapel , with frescoes by Fra Angelico , and especially by Luca Signorelli , who represented the great scenes of Last Judgement , Hell and Paradise .