Village Italy - 2014
Deruta, Le Velette & Orviteo
Friday, September 12
Deruta, Le Velette Winery and Orvieto, Italy
Forty-five minutes after leaving Montone, we arrived at a local family run pottery shop in Deruta. Four generations of the Gialletti family have owned the shop. The current owner, Antonio Giallette, took our group on a tour describing every detail of the steps taken to create the beautiful ceramic pieces they produce.
Ceramiche Gialletti
Dianne deciding what to purchase in the Ceramiche Gialletti Giulio showroom.
Each piece is entirely hand crafted and decorated by master artists
We couldn’t leave without buying a couple of pieces for our home. Dianne selected a bowl that we have on our kitchen table and a small covered dish.
When we left Ceramiche Gialletti Giulio we drove off the beaten path to Le Velette, a rural family owned winery for a tour, wine tasting and lunch.
We started our tour with the fourth generation owner as he described the steps in producing their wine. We then ascended deep down into ancient caves where their wine is stored and aged.
Following the tour we entered one of their 12th century buildings where we enjoyed wine tasting and lunch. The owner talked about which wine should be enjoyed with what foods. He then served the wine and food for each of the four wines we sampled.
Le Velette is located about ten miles west of Orvieto. Their vineyards cover a vast area. The winery buildings date back to the 12th century and the caves where the bottled wine is stored are from 50 BC.
Le Velette
Late in the afternoon we arrived in Orvieto. Orvieto is one of our favorite hill towns in Italy. We spent two days in Orvieto in 2001 while traveling on our own. We always said we’d like to returned to Orvieto and the day finally arrived on September 12, 2014.
Orvieto, Italy
The ancient city of Orvieto, in the region of Umbria, has been populated since Etruscan times (768 BC – 264 BC) sits 1,000 feet above the valley on a huge volcanic rock. The town that dates back to approximately 600BC was virtually impregnable.
There are parts of the town that can be reached by car, however, most tourists either climb a long and steep staircase or ride an elevator located next to a large parking lot at the base of the rock formation. Our bus parked in the lot and we took the elevator up into the town. Exiting the elevator with our luggage in tow we walked the cobblestone streets to reach our hotel, the Grand Hotel Italia.
After checking in, we met our assistance guide, David Tordi a native of Orvieto, for an introductory walk of the town. The walk ended at the Duomo where he gave us a tour of the basilica. Construction of the Duomo began in 1290 and was completed in 1330.
David Tordi
Duomo
Before returning to the hotel for the evening we had dinner with two couples traveling with us and then enjoyed gelato while strolling some of Oriento’s narrow streets, many filled with outdoor restaurants.
Orvieto at night
Grand Italia Hotel
Saturday, September 13
Today was a full day in Orvieto. Saturday was market day. After breakfast we walked a few steps from our hotel to a market in Piazza del Papolo. The piazza was filled with locals and a few tourists. There were vendors selling locally grown produce, all types of cheese, meat, sausage, foul and clothing. It was fun walking through the market looking at what was available and sampling cheese at one vendor.
Pears, apples, grapes, melons & peaches
Variety of local cheese
Clothing vendors where Dianne bought a night gown
For lunch we stopped at Trattoria La Pergola, a small restaurant on one of the side streets near Piazza del Papolo. We shared bruschetta with a salad and a platter of six different kinds of cheese from the region.
Trattoria La Pergola
Following lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon walking the narrow streets of Orvieto visiting some of piazzas and stopping in many small locally owned shops.
Streets in Orvieto
Piazza del Duomo
Piazza Repubblica
In the evening, as the sun was setting, we were back to the Duomo for one last time. The façade was a mass of glittering mosaics, stained glass, gold leaf and sculptures depicting stories from the Bible. The Duomo had a golden glow as the sun was setting on the building.
We loved Orvieto. Not only is it one of our favorite towns in Italy, it ranks near the top of all the villages, towns and cities we’ve visited in Europe.
© 2014. 2015 Bill Juffernbruch