The archaeological complex of pozzo della Cava is located in the medieval quarter of Orvieto. It consists of nine caves that stretch out beneath the houses and streets in the most ancient part of the city, facing the little Sanctuary of the Madonna della Cava.
Access to the complex is through the portico of a medieval house, the first room is a kiln built from tuff rock with a barrel vault. On the back wall is a large medieval furnace dug out of the rock, which was used to fire ceramics.
On the first underground storey is the Butti Cave, a small cellar with flooring in little terracotta tiles, which links to a small Etruscan-age room dug from the tuff rock, first used as a grave and later adapted in the Middle Ages to serve as a “butto” (waste pit) for the ceramic kilns above.
The smallest and deepest room is found on the second underground storey. The end wall overlooks the pozzo della Cava, a giant hole in the tuff rock that is 4m diameter and 36m in depth. The structure has two parts that are linked: a large Renaissance cylindrical well and a small Etruscan rectangular well that is still used as a staircase.
The museum room on the ground floor is the most recent in the complex and has a column of a medieval tower-house at its centre and the remains of a 15th century oven in one corner.
The final two caves, the most majestic, present numerous finds, such as the remains of archaic rock graves and an Etruscan well and tunnel.
