Orvieto stands on a block of volcanic tufa that rises abruptly from the plain, a flat-topped rock with cliffs on every side and a town built to the edge of them. It is in southwestern Umbria, near the border with Lazio and Tuscany, with the Paglia river winding below. The Etruscans made it an important city, and the caves cut into the soft rock beneath the streets are still used for storing wine. In the Middle Ages, it was a papal refuge and a town of some power, and the legacy of that is the Duomo, begun in the late thirteenth century.
The cathedral is the reason many people come, and the facade is a dazzling thing, covered in mosaics and carved reliefs, the sort of surface that changes with the light. It was built to honour a miracle at nearby Bolsena, where a host was said to have bled during Mass, and the town still celebrates Corpus Domini with a procession. Inside, the Chapel of San Brizio has frescoes by Luca Signorelli, whose depiction of the end of the world is among the most vivid of the Renaissance. Another stop is the Pozzo di San Patrizio, a deep well with a double spiral staircase, built in the sixteenth century to give the town water if it were besieged.
Orvieto is also wine country, known for Orvieto Classico, a light and dry white wine made from grapes grown on the volcanic soils around the town. A glass with lunch is the sensible way to taste it, though perhaps not on the way to a day's riding.
For a rider, this is a good place for a coffee and a stretch. The hill town has narrow cobbled streets and a restricted traffic zone, so most visitors park at the base and take the funicular up from the station, or leave the bike in one of the car parks below. The riding in the area is excellent, with the roads from Orvieto toward Lake Bolsena, Pitigliano and the Tuscan border running through green, rolling country with views of tufa towns and olive groves. Surfaces vary, but the traffic is light outside the high season.
Fuel is easy, with stations at Orvieto Scalo, down by the railway, and along the main roads. Come in spring or autumn for the best conditions, and take care on wet cobbles, which are slick.