Orvieto - Duomo di Orvieto

Orvieto was annexed by Rome in the third century BC. Because of its site on a high, steep bluff, the city was virtually impregnable. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the episcopal seat was transferred from Bolsena, and the city was held by Goths and by Lombards before its self-governing commune was established in the 10th century. Orvieto's relationship to the papacy has been a close one. By the thirteenth century, three papal palaces had been built.

Orvieto controlled the road between Florence and Rome. It was a large town with a population of about 30,000 at the end of the 13th century. From 1201 Orvieto governed itself through a podestà, who was as often as not the bishop, however, acting in concert with the "captain of the people". In the 13th century feuds divided the city, which was at the apogée of its wealth but found itself often at odds with the papacy. Pope Urban IV stayed at Orvieto from 1262 to 1264.

The city became one of the major cultural centers of its time when Thomas Aquinas taught there. A small university had its origins in a studium generale that was granted to the city by Pope Gregory IX in 1236. The territory of Orvieto was under papal control long before it was officially added to the Papal States and it remained a papal possession until 1860, when it was annexed to unified Italy.

The construction of the cathedral lasted almost three centuries with the design and style evolving from Romanesque to Gothic as construction progressed. The construction started around 1300 and was entrusted to "capomastro" Fra Bevignate di Perugia (aka Bevignate da Gubbio). The cathedral was initially designed as a Romanesque basilica with a nave and two side aisles. However, when Giovanni di Uguccione succeeded Fra Bevignate, the design was transformed into Italian Gothic forms.

Construction continued slowly until, in 1309, the Sienese sculptor and architect Lorenzo Maitani was commissioned to work on the church and solve several issues concerning the load-bearing capabilities of the building, especially of the choir. He substantially changed the design and construction of the building, increasing the similarity of the building to Siena Cathedral. Starting in 1310 he created the current façade up to the level of the bronze statues of the symbols of the Evangelists. The Gothic façade of the Cathedral is a masterpiece. The three-gable design is attributed to Maitani, who apparently had been influenced for the façade by the style of the Siena Cathedral by Giovanni Pisano and the plan for façade of the Florence Cathedral by Arnolfo di Cambi.