What Lies Beneath

Not a horror story, but one rich in local history. 

Rising above the valley the town of Orvieto sits on butte of a volcanic tuff. The soft rock was ideal for tunnelling and creating hiding spaces for the Etruscan civilization who settled in the area in the 9th Century BCE. This civilization and then the Romans dug wells to access water for the community above. 

In the Middle Ages an olive press was situated in a tunnel taking advantage of the consistent temperatures. Olives were crushed under a basalt stone through the work of donkeys moving the stone. 

This mash was then pressed to release olive oil.

Pigeons were kept caves connected to the homes above. 

These passages were so well used that spaces for oil lamps were carved into the walls. 

Of course all of tunnelling and the passage of time has created some instability which has been remedied with modern cement pillars