Il Pozzo della Cava is located in the oldest area of the city of Orvieto which in ancient times housed a quarry of building materials, hence its name.
It is one of the interesting and numerous archaeological sites found in Orvieto and which must be included in the itinerary to discover the city.
In 1999, following the discovery of an autographed letter by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, it was possible to confirm that the Pozzo della Cava was the first well built in Orvieto commissioned by Pope Clement VII, even before the famous Pozzo di S. Patrizio.
Visit the Pozzo della Cava with children: what to see
The well has a depth of 36 meters and shows the signs of the Etruscan “pedarole” or small cavities created on the walls to allow for its descent and ascent.
The Pozzo della Cava was entirely dug by hand in the Orvieto tuff and, along the visit itinerary, it is possible to visit caves and other artifacts that have been found all around it.
Among others, you can see the furnace – with the remains of an oven of the time whose laboratory worked ceramics – the butti or wells into which waste was thrown (we had already seen them in Pistoia Sotterranea), the Etruscan tomb, the Etruscan cistern used for collecting rainwater, the medieval cellar for storing Orvieto wine, the rocky necropolis.
The visit itinerary is marked by information panels and is free. Count more or less half an hour. You can enter with your four-legged friends.
Comfortable shoes are recommended for the visit, not necessarily trainers.
At the end of the visit, you can stop at the “Bottega del Pozzo” for a typical lunch or a tasting, and buy some nice ceramic souvenirs in the little shop.
Info for visits with children
Inside the site there are several flights of stairs so you cannot enter with a stroller.
You will be asked to leave it outside as the entrance is small and would annoy other visitors. The ideal would be to put the baby in the pouch.
Ask at the ticket office for the paper mini-guide for children, really nice and useful for accompanying the little ones along the tour of the underground!
The guide is available in Italian and English.
Visit to the Pozzo della Cava with children: entrance ticket
The ticket can be purchased directly at the ticket office (at the entrance) or online on this portal. The cost is €4.00 full price, reduced price €2.50 (with ticket for the funicular or the Pozzo di San Patrizio).
If you plan to visit other attractions in Orvieto, it may be worth purchasing the Orvieto City Card which includes admission to 9 sites. You can buy it here.
Opening hours of the Pozzo della Cava
The Pozzo della Cava is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 20:00. The ticket office closes at 7.45pm.
On the occasion of the Nativity scene (from 23 December to the Sunday after the Epiphany), it is also open on Mondays.
Annual closing: from the Sunday after the Epiphany to February 2 excluded.
Nativity scene at the Pozzo della Cava
During the Christmas period, from 23 December to 07 January, the Pozzo della Cava has been hosting for several years the event “Il Presepe nel Pozzo” or a suggestive Nativity scene with religious representations on the theme of the nativity by life-size animated characters.
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