Campane di Orvieto - Duomo

Orvieto presents itself to its visitors as a city built almost entirely of tuff, its winding streets still exuding a welcoming, medieval atmosphere. At the end of the 13th century, Orvieto was in the most prosperous phase of its history; it was a powerful city, well-developed politically and institutionally. It was during this period, under the rule of the Seven and by order of the Curia and the City Council, that construction work began on the cathedral, built on the site of the smaller, long-ruined church of "Santa Maria de Episcopatu." The director of the works, entrusted with the construction of the cathedral, was Fra' Bevignate, also responsible for the construction of the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia, along with the artistic director Ramo di Paganello. In November 1290, the first stone of the Orvieto cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta, was laid in the presence of Pope Nicholas IV. To mark the work shifts at the construction site, the Torre del Maurizio was built (also by the Opera del Duomo): inside, the mechanical clock from 1347 still functions. Maurizio (a corruption of "Muriccio") has traditionally become the name of the automaton that, rotating its body, strikes the hours by striking the main bell cast in 1351. We recommend watching the video:    • Il meccanismo dell'orologio della torre di...   . The work was completed only at the end of the 16th century, with the addition of the side spires by Ippolito Scalza. The richness of the façade, the soaring spires, the gold background of the mosaics, the rose window, and the banded division of the nave make Orvieto Cathedral a masterpiece of the Romanesque-Gothic style. The enormous complex was never equipped with a real bell tower: rather, a mighty sail was erected on the extension of a side wall, having 4 arches in which 5 bells from different eras and by different founders were placed: the large bell was made by the Roman founders Horatius Censor and Marcellus Mannaccius in 1609; the second largest dates back to 1961, cast by the Marinelli foundry and replacing a pre-existing bell now on display in the museum; the third is by Joseph Compianus from Fermo and dated 1598 (by the same founder we also mention the 4th bell made for the Palazzo dei Consoli in Gubbio, later replaced in 1716    • Gubbio e il settimo Campanone   ); the penultimate one is by an unknown founder and dates back to 1551; the smaller bell is the work of Francesco De Blasiis and his son Pietro, also Roman founders (other bells of theirs are present in the Viterbo and Perugia areas    • Campane di San Martino in Campo (PG)   ).