|
|
If the artistic turmoil of what remains of Orvieto mainly dates back to the Middle Ages, there is no lack of other enchanting testimonies which, even though they didn't change the overall town planning structure, show its ability to renovate from the point of view of architecture and keep up over the course of centuries. The peculiar and admired renaissance structure of the famous St- Patrick's well is an example of life in the underground city and of the prudence of Pope Clement VII, who had it designed by Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane between 1527 and 1537 in order to provide water to the inhabitants in the event of a siege. The sixteenth century also saw the construction or renovation of that set of refined and exclusive buildings that, because of their impressiveness and beautiful decorations, break the simple and sober face of the town with pleasant and heterogeneous incursions: Palazzo Coelli, pre-existing but renovated several times, Palazzo Caravajal and Palazzo Simoncelli, or Marsciano and Clementini, Mangrossi and Gualterio, Monaldeschi and Saracinelli, Fustini and Marabottini, Buzi and Crispo. A flourishing of gentile dwellings that became more controlled even though it never stopped in later ages when, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, thanks to the works of architects such as Giuseppe Valadier and Virginio Vespignani, the town embellished itself with new public and private works in the Neoclassical style. From the refined Palazzo Negroni, close to Piazza Vivaria, to the more impressive Palazzo dell'Opera del Duomo, just in front of the Cathedral, from the reinterpretation of Palazzo Ottaviani, which later became the Locanda delle Belle Arti, to Palazzo Pollidori, later Netti, to the Palazzo Faina in Piazza del Duomo and Ravizza and Mazzocchi in Piazza Vitozzi, the last three dating back to the nineteenth century. At the same time new access ways into the town were realized through the Porta Romana and the Porta Cassia, now demolished, at the entrance of the present-day Piazza Cahen.
|
