Orvieto Webcam – See Umbria’s Gothic Cathedral Up Close

The Orvieto Webcam looks across Piazza del Duomo at Orvieto Cathedral, the Gothic church that towers over this hilltop town in southwest Umbria. The camera sits at a raised point across the square and sees the building at an angle. The carved, three-gabled facade and its spires stand left of center, and the long flank of white and grey stripes runs away to the right. People cross the paved square in front of the steps, a strip of lawn and a lane with parked cars fill the bottom right, and the cream and yellow houses at the far end of the piazza lead to a clock tower on the left. The current broadcast began in August 2018 and runs around the clock.

About Orvieto

Orvieto stands on a large butte of volcanic tuff, its streets about 315 meters (1,033 feet) above sea level and some 200 meters (660 feet) above the valley floor. The comune had 19,196 residents on 1 January 2025. It lies about 97 kilometers (60 miles) north of Rome in a straight line, and direct trains make the trip in a little over an hour. They stop at Orvieto Scalo, the newer town on the plain, where a funicular climbs to the historic center on the rock.

The cathedral is the reason most visitors make that climb. Pope Nicholas IV laid its first stone on 13 November 1290, and the church was built to house the Corporal of Bolsena, an altar cloth tied to a eucharistic miracle in the nearby town of Bolsena in 1263. Work went on for almost three centuries and ended in 1591. The stripes on the right of the frame are alternating courses of local white travertine and blue-grey basalt, and they continue down to the row of small gables along the lower wall.

Lorenzo Maitani led the design of the facade. Its bas-reliefs, showing scenes from the Old and New Testaments and the Last Judgement, were installed from 1331 onward, and the mosaics higher up tell the life of the Virgin Mary. Those were made between 1350 and 1390, though many have been replaced over the centuries. At the far left of the picture, the clock tower at the corner of Via del Duomo is the Torre di Maurizio, named for the bronze figure placed on top in 1349 to mark working hours on the cathedral site. It still strikes the bell every hour.

Weather and Climate in Orvieto

Orvieto has hot, dry summers and cool, damp winters. Over 2015 to 2024, January averaged about 5 C (41 F) at the height of the old town, with afternoons near 10 C (50 F) and nights around 2 C (36 F). Spring warms quickly. April afternoons reach about 18 C (64 F) and May about 22 C (72 F). July and August are the hottest months, averaging 25 C (77 F), with afternoon highs near 32 C (90 F).

July is also the driest month, with about 24 mm (0.9 inches) of rain. Rain returns in September, and October and November are the wettest months, with roughly 100 to 120 mm (3.9 to 4.7 inches) each, even though October afternoons still reach about 21 C (70 F). On a summer midday the pinnacles throw sharp shadows down the facade and white umbrellas open at the end of the square, and on bright days the lens can pick up a soft haze across the sky. A grey winter afternoon flattens the stripes, and on a wet November day the piazza can be close to empty.

Things to Do Near Orvieto

Inside the cathedral, the Chapel of the Madonna di San Brizio holds Luca Signorelli’s Last Judgement frescoes, painted from 1499 to 1503 on a scheme that Fra Angelico and Benozzo Gozzoli had started in 1447. Three museums stand on the cathedral square itself: the Museo Claudio Faina, the National Archaeological Museum and the Museo Emilio Greco. A short walk away, the Torre del Moro rises 47 meters (154 feet) over the center of town.

St. Patrick’s Well, the Pozzo di San Patrizio, was commissioned by Pope Clement VII after he fled the Sack of Rome in 1527, to keep the town supplied with water in a siege. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger designed it with two separate spiral staircases lit by 72 windows, and it was finished in 1537 at a depth of more than 50 meters (164 feet). The caves and tunnels cut into the tuff beneath the streets are known as Orvieto Underground. Etruscan Orvieto survives in the Necropolis of Crocifisso del Tufo and the remains of the Belvedere Temple. The vineyards around the town make Orvieto white wine, and Bolsena, the lakeside town of the 1263 miracle, lies across the regional border in Lazio.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More hill towns, churches and Umbrian views on live cameras:

• Assisi Webcam
• Cologne Webcam
• Castelluccio di Norcia Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Orvieto and how far is it from Rome?

Orvieto is in the Province of Terni in southwest Umbria, central Italy, on a tuff butte about 315 meters (1,033 feet) above sea level. It lies about 97 kilometers (60 miles) north of Rome in a straight line, and direct trains from Rome take a little over an hour.

What can you see on the Orvieto Webcam?

The camera faces Orvieto Cathedral across Piazza del Duomo. The Gothic facade stands left of center and the striped side wall runs off to the right, with the paved square, its visitors and the houses at the far end on the left. The Torre di Maurizio clock tower rises above those houses at the far left of the frame.

Does the Orvieto Webcam show Orvieto Scalo or the train station?

No. The camera is up in the old town on Piazza del Duomo, and the cathedral fills most of the view. Orvieto Scalo and the railway station are on the plain below the rock, out of sight, linked to the center by the funicular.

What are the stripes on Orvieto Cathedral made of?

They are alternating bands of local white travertine and blue-grey basalt. The pattern covers the long side wall that runs to the right of the facade in the camera’s view.

When was Orvieto Cathedral built?

Pope Nicholas IV laid the first stone on 13 November 1290, and building went on for almost three centuries until 1591. The church was raised to house the Corporal of Bolsena, the relic of a eucharistic miracle in 1263.

What is the weather like in Orvieto?

Summers are hot and dry, with July and August afternoons near 32 C (90 F). Winters are cool, with January averaging about 5 C (41 F). October and November bring the most rain, and July the least.

Is the Orvieto Webcam live at night?

Yes. The current YouTube broadcast has run continuously since August 2018, so the player stays on overnight. How much of the cathedral shows after dark depends on the lighting in the square, so the carving and the stripes are best watched in daylight.

Source: Umbria Webcam