Orvieto Cathedral

Orvieto Cathedral (Duomo di Orvieto) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Umbria whose construction began in 1290 and whose ornate Gothic façade and interior artworks make it one of Italy’s major medieval churches. The cathedral was built to house a relic associated with a Eucharistic miracle and became a civic and religious landmark in Orvieto.

The Duomo’s highlights include the polychrome Gothic façade with mosaics and sculpted panels, the Chapel of San Brizio with Luca Signorelli’s fresco cycle painted c.1499-1504, and the Chapel of the Corporal associated with the 13th-century miracle. The building is notable for its scale as the cathedral dominates the town perched on a tufa plateau.

Construction was initiated by the city of Orvieto in 1290 after a reported Eucharistic miracle and was overseen in its major structural and decorative phases by Lorenzo Maitani in the early 14th century. Later artistic commissions, including Signorelli’s frescoes, were added during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

The cathedral sits atop Orvieto’s volcanic tuff plateau in central Italy, overlooking the town and surrounding Umbrian countryside. It is about 100 km north of Rome and is the dominant feature of Orvieto’s skyline.

• Construction date: Construction began in 1290 and major works on the facade and nave were led in the early 14th century by master architect Lorenzo Maitani.
• Important artwork: The Chapel of San Brizio contains large-scale frescoes by Luca Signorelli painted around 1499-1504, widely studied for their Renaissance figural composition.

What to See #

• Chapel of San Brizio: Houses the fresco cycle by Luca Signorelli executed around 1499-1504 and considered a key Renaissance depiction of the Last Judgment.
• Façade: The cathedral's richly decorated Gothic facade combines bas-reliefs, mosaics and sculptural panels completed in the 14th century under Lorenzo Maitani's direction.
• Chapel of the Corporal: A small chapel linked to a Eucharistic miracle, which generated part of the cathedral's founding impetus and still draws religious interest.