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Show The Salt Lake Tribune TRAVEL Sunday. March 31, 1996 Italian Cathedral a Glory to Behold ByChristopher Reynolds LOS ANGELES TIMES ORVIETO, Italy — It would be asking for trouble to come right IF YOU GO the most beautiful church in Europe. But just look at it LOS ANGELES TIMES Whereto Stay: Hotel Virgilio(Piazza del Duomo5-6; tele- out and call Orvieto's cathedral Sitting as it does in a townof 24,000. in central Italy midway between Romeand Florence, Or. phone 011-39-763-41-882, fax 011-39-763-43-797) neighbors vieto’s cathedral. or Duomo hasn't got the global profile of St the Duomowith just 13 rooms. Peter's in Rome, the Duomoin Florence. or St. Mark’s in Venice If the Catholic church ran a marketing survey of North American some of which offer views of the church. (Be sure to ask for the view.) The Italian govern- ment rating system gives it three stars — comfortable but not luxurious. Double rooms: visitorsto Italy, the grandly Goth- ic Orvieto church might even run behind the cathedrals of Siena and Milan. And if the subject is the Continent’s most beautiful churches, there will always be ar guments for Chartres or Notre Damein France, or maybe even Antonio Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia early afternoon on a blue-skied day, make your wayon foot up the Via Nebbia, thenturn the old stone corner with all the tourist signs and cast your gaze skyward, there’s a good chance that you'll forget about other churchesfor a while. There stands the Duomo, in the 3rd century BC, when Romans forced the Etruscansout. In later centuries, Orvieto fell under control of the Vatican and became a frequent papal retreat. The church’s cornerstone waslaid in 1290, on the highest ground for miles around at a site formerlyoccupied byanother church and, be- fore that, an Etruscan temple. Thetriptych-like facade of the called the Duomo “the greatest and richest polychrome monument in the world.” Pope Leo XIII suggested that on Judgment Day, the Duomo’s beauty would carry it right up to Heaven. And soon, the place may make an even bigger impression on modern-day visitors. Some time this year workers are due to complete restoration that has kept the church, about 150 feet high, is dominated by four pillars, each elaborately sculpted with scenes from the Bible. The doorways are saicists, Andthe work didn't end in the 16th century. Myfavorite part of the building, the brilliant mosaic work on the upperfacade, is actually a replacement, added in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries to cover for earlier mosaics apparently removed by agents of Rome the edge of town lie Etruscan p that dom— as on(..s.ormed the the crowning & SUITES 2% 849 2 ams»2athe s69 COMPLIMENTARY Continental cane Park Shuttle *HBO / ESPN / Disney Channel ‘New Rooms « Heated Poo! & Spa + Guest Laundry za in front of the Duomo. The 215 s arbor Blvd Fhe, C48 92802 vald Holidays. bp 6 WENDOVER EVERY NITE SILVERSMITH/STATELINE a) red 59.00 EPE! a ELIere) BRANSON 4/16 11 Days $899 13 Name Shows -- Some moais 8/12 $1650 15 DAYS BUS, SHIP & PLANE Columbia, and Alaska (aa CoMeM Teas Sat. 4/6 & 4/13 $23, Sr. Spec. 4/2 $18 $9.00 CB PORTLAND RO 5/30 13 Days LAUGHLIN/MESQUITE PARAD $829 DTN aes 5 Z2t 8 5/10 5Dave $98 ies Mesqui 4/3 5 Days $149 Scotty's Castle, Pahrump, Tonopah GAMBLER SPECIAL 4/14 & 5/5 5 Days $96 Primadona’s, Laughlin, Mesquite California Chel, SanFrancisco, Calgary, Grand Canyon, Disneyland. eee WENDOVER O'NITE era 4/15 & 5/13 $29 eens PEOMSR ELS Cees1 8 CEP LED WENDOVER WELCOME ABC BOWLERS ee Buus SPECIAL $ 44 CASH BACK SUN-FRI AM 57° CASH BACK FRI PM-SUN AM » PHANTOM 3 Day - Apr 26 or May 24 ‘SanFrancisco brunch bay cruise, 2 nights hotel, dinner, sightseeing, mezzanine seating. Pressed for time, HAWAII 11 Day - June 19 Maui, Kauai, Oahu, The Big Island, Polynesian (Cutural Center, Peart Harbor, Fem Grotto, & more| BDay -Sephty,GotsOct16 1! sho ard aces, Shy Tabu, oy lak, Andy Wiliams, Mal Tis, The Osmonds, & more ALASKA7 Day-Aug 5 Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, age and Vancouver Hosted by Danny Kramer of KDYL. CHURCH HISTORY S Days - July 1 Historical Sights wih Church Historian Dave Jacobs, The Photo: The Khazneh in ancient Petra, located in southwest Jordan, was carved outof a sandstonecliff. Angelico and various others, mostlyfrom the 15th century. The Map: Thestate is Washington. Cruise west on I-90 past Moses Lake and you will eventually reach Seattle. There is more to Orvieto than the church, of course. The Church CANADIAN|ROCKIES ae i yea Satee : more Mig * BRANSON & LAKE OF THE OZARKS May PRALINE 2 10 SHOWS & ATTRACTIONS * MUSIC USA BRANSON, MEMPHIS, NASHVILLE, icant FREE- BROCHURES Srrae eeerad ire ae) meer vieto a day trip without much guilt. @ Answers to Where Are You? faithful girlfriend on the body of a prostitute writhing in hell.) Oth- 13 SHOWS & ATTRACTIONS ae ‘Cumorah Pageant and LDS. Ma travelers in Rome could make Or- still rimmed by ancient walls and surrounded by a commanding standerat the Sermonofthe Antichrist, and elsewhere is said to haveincluded the face of his un- * BRANSON & EUREKA SPRINGS open are notthe most arresting in Italy, or even in Umbria. It would be nice to spend a night in town and make time for lingering in such places, but the truth is, most paying the fee of about $4. Instead, I wandered around the pleasant(and free) public gardens on the site of an ancientfortress, from 1499-1504 and is said to en ee Play, Mi. Rushmore ond much more it 12 AuguH 16 HURCH HISTORY TOUR Gi T LECTUS 1 a HARTMAN i paunvna, NAUVOO & MIssOUR \ncudes riCumerah Pageant sestions In Chicago, Toronto’ & Washinglon D.C uly 4-July V7 100 CITY OF JOSEPH PAGEANT & Plus-Far West, Liberty Jail & More July 29-Auguit ir Tours include: Transport jation, Lodging, Most Meals, how &Atracion Admissions, pls Shoji Toph their galleries have been closed for years for reorganization or upgrading, and those that are I decided I could live without seeing that or Last Judgment that was painted 4 Train excursions including Durango & Silverton August 15-August 19) Opera del Duomo and the Museo Claudio Faina — but many of deep and wide enough to accommodate two spiral staircases. have heavily influenced the executionof another judgment scene about 40 years later — Michelangelo’s, in the Sistine Chapel. (Signorelli painted himself as a by- OX Tl Thetownalso has several muse- ums, including the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, the Museodell’ and oldest quarter of town,lies the Pozzo di San Patricio, a 16th centurywellthatis about 200 feet artistic 4 ‘Alaska Ferry, Kecikon, Juneau, Yukon, Anchora 20-) COTS Se SCT last 15 years have waged a costly campaign to shoreup thehilltop. wayup the hill into the highest achievements of the Italian Renaissance. The cycle includes a x ay Celebrate our centennial with 0 So. Jah Pork Tow, Tuocahn Uish Paosant &Grond Canyon 0 june neyland late 1970s. Italian leaders in the full of medieval character. Nearthe Piazza Cahen, on the elli thatis widely considered to be of the hilltop town’s stability in the in the Piazza del Popolo on Thursdays and Saturdays, but the narrow, stony streets around it are In the Duomo’s chapel lies the church's greatest interior treasure and, unfortunately, one recently obscured from public view. There, restorers are working on a cycle of frescoes by Luca Signorone view of the checkerboard farmland below. It was near herethat erosion and landslides threatened tombs. I missed the market held plan from Romanesque to Gothic. daMaakSAMA anh Uptown, Via Maitani and Via del Duomo lead past souvenir shopsand restaurants to the piaz- *95 murderous arrival of the Black Deathin 1348. The Duomowasn't completed until 1580, and bythat time, according to one historian’s count, it had become the joint product of 33 architects, 152 sculptors. 68 painters and 90 mo- of San Giovenale looks down onto orchards from its rock base. On wor! the four inate the chur going redesign HYDE’S ENCORE TOURS & TRAVE A Bavarian with his doubts aboutthe doctrine which buses makethebrief run to the Piazza del Duomo. pr. B~ discourage the developing independence of towns in that area of the countryside Either way, it was an immense project, and one that the church and town clungto even after the the Catholic Mass at which wine round trip) to Piazza Cahen, from es raise an intimidating structure to spent about 30 years euiding construction ¢ ne the detail priest, on a pilgrimage to grapple homely part of town, known as Orvieto Scalo, at the base of the table. From there, a traveler can either drive upthehill to fight for @ rare parking space, park and take a bus, or ride the funicular railway(less than $1 for an adult Mesquite/Laughlin opportune timefor the Vatican to Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times Orvieto cathedral is partially shroudedfor restoration, but workwill be finished this year. FETS mas LINES Bysome accounts, the Duomo project began as a celebration of a reported miracle in the nearby of transubstantiation (the point in i body), saw Christ's blood materialize, in the shapeof Christ's face. on a white linenaltar cloth Some historians havealso theorized, however, that 1290 was an er frescoes are the work of Fra its high end about 1,000 feet above the green valleybelow. Approachingbytrain or car, visitors first pass through the modern, oeLae and wafers are said to be transformed into Christ's blood and 1964-1970. The original architect is unknown, but great credit is usually heaped upon Lorenzo Maitani of Siena, who took over in 1310 and town of Bolsena: QD chties 3S $170. The bronze doors are even more recent, the product of work from ing for more than a year. — ame Double rooms are about $140- glass windows and glistening mo- saics above. Orvietosits ona tilted table top 12th century abbey with frescoes, cloisters. large rooms, a pool and a good restaurant enormous, surrounded by sculpt- ed bas-relief details, with stained- church's spectacular Signorelli interior frescoes behind scaffold- outside town, is a renovated 550, Los Angeles 90025; (310) 820-0098, fax (310) 820-6357 not quite overcome; it wasshortly sun was in optimum position, and La Badia (Via La Badia 8 tel. 011-39-763-90-359, fax 011-39-763-92-796), also just More Information: Italian Government Tourist Board 12400 Wilshire Blvd., Suite gion of Umbria as it gives wayto Tuscany, was an Etruscan town from about the 7th century BC to the front of the church was ablaze. It didn’t seem real Art historian Jacob Burckhardt leaving a rental car at tlie bottom of the hill. Double rooms: about $107-$120. The Villa Ciconia (Via dei The first time I came face to face with the cathedralof Orvieto, I was startled and humbled, but before noon, and the facade was in the shade. Butbythe time I had wandered back to the Piazza del Duomoabout an hourlater, the ular — convenient if you're Tigli 69; tel. 011-39-763-92982, fax 011-39-763-90-677), a humanhistory Orvieto, in the westernmost re- considerable glory. sits below townnearthe baseofthe funic- about $87 nightly shops offer Orvieto’s other most popular products: white wine produced on neighboring estates; hand-detailed pottery. often distinguished by green coloring: lace, and ironwork. Beneath those streets and shops, the hilltop is riddled with ancient tunnels and tombs — a cause for worry over the town’s physical stability and a reminder of the settlement’s early in Barcelona, if you're in the com- pany of modernists. 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