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You may be familiar with stories about Popes in Rome (of course), or Popes in Avignon, or even Popes of a sort in Constantinople, but do you know the story about a Pope hanging out in Orvieto?\u00a0 Yes its true.\u00a0 The well, which in English called the well of St. Patrick (who knows why), was dug by Antonio da Sangallo, an architect and engineer from Florence who in 1527 was commissioned by Pope Clement VII after the sack of Rome, who himself fled to Orvieto. Orvieto would only be a safe place in a high walled city if in fact there was a reliable source of water within the walls.\u00a0 \u00a0And what a well it is.\u00a0 It was not completed until 1537 and by then Pope Paul III was the Pope.\u00a0 The well is designed with a double helix stairwell (one for going down, the other for going up), and it involves 248 steps and 70 windows along the way to provide light. And yes I went down and came back up again.\u00a0 Here are some shots\u2026<\/p>\n
This one is looking up from the bottom, where you actually can see the water.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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That\u2019s the view looking down at some of my eager beaver students well ahead of me in the race to the bottom. And here\u2019s another such shot.<\/p>\n
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This is Dr. Ben Snyder one of our Bible PhD grads and his wife Amy, and they are also taking a picture of me\u2014 here below.<\/p>\n
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![](\"https:\/\/www.secretumbria.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/vista-panoramica-pozzo-San-Patrizio-secret-umbria-1024x768.jpg\")
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And of course I need to add\u2013 all\u2019s well that end\u2019s well. We didn\u2019t lose any students in the well or down the cliff. Orvieto is well and truly a city set on a hill.<\/p>\n
![\"Orvieto:](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.carry-on-traveler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Orvieto_A_Charming_Hilltop_Jewel_In_Italy.jpg?resize=1170%2C550\")
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You may be familiar with stories about Popes in Rome (of course), or Popes in Avignon, or even Popes of a sort in Constantinople, but do you know the story about a Pope hanging out in Orvieto?\u00a0 Yes its true.\u00a0 The well, which in English called the well of St. Patrick (who knows why), was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":71942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15650],"class_list":["post-71939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alls-well-that-ends-well"],"yoast_head":"\n