Two staircases, 248 steps each, that never meet

St Patrick's Well in Orvieto is 54 meters deep and has two independent spiral ramps of 248¹ steps each with separate entrances, so people going down never cross people coming up.

The Orvieto design, and the problem it solved

The well drops 54 meters and carries 2 separate helical ramps, 248¹ steps each, with their own entrances at the top. Nobody descending meets anybody ascending, at any point.

Pope Clement VII had it dug after taking refuge in Orvieto following the Sack of Rome in 1527¹, to a design by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. A pope under siege needs water that keeps coming even when the traffic is heavy, and a single stair jams.

The visit costs €6 full and €4.50 reduced (2026) and takes 45 to 60 minutes. Prices on this page are in euros.

496 steps and 14 degrees

Going down and coming back up is 496¹ steps with no lift, which rules the well out for anyone with a serious mobility limit. There is no shortcut and no alternative route.

The temperature inside holds at 57°F (14°C) all year. In August that gap with the street outside is the reason a sweatshirt at the bottom of your bag turns a cold descent into a comfortable one.

Opening hours run 10:00 am to 5:00 pm in January, February, November and December, 9:00 am to 7:00 pm in March, April, September and October, and 9:00 am to 8:00 pm from May to August (2026).

Perugia: 37 meters, and 2 beams of 80 quintals

The Etruscan Well in Perugia is 37 meters deep and was cut in the second half of the 3rd century BC, under what is now Piazza Piccinino. Its upper section is a cylinder 5.6 meters across and 12 meters high, narrowing to 3 meters lower down.

The roof is the part that stops people. Two travertine arch beams, 80 quintals each, are set across the shaft without mortar or any binder, held in place by their own geometry alone.

Three perennial springs feed it, which is what made the Etruscan city on this hill possible in the first place. Opening hours and the ticket price are not published on the comune's page; the well is run by the Fondazione Ranieri di Sorbello, and we have not verified its schedule.

Matera: 5 million liters under a square

The Palombaro Lungo runs 50 meters long and 16 meters deep under piazza Vittorio Veneto and could hold 5 million liters of water. It was cut in phases from the 16th century, with the last documented enlargement in 1870³.

It was found still full of water in 1991, which is the detail that makes it hard to file as an archaeological site. A working cistern under the main square stopped being needed and was simply forgotten.

The FAI manages it today and the visit runs on walkways above the water. The FAI page publishes neither opening hours nor a ticket price, and the €3 figure that circulates online has no primary source we could check, so it is not printed here as a price.

All three were dug for supply rather than for display, and all three are visited today by walking down into them, which is a rarer kind of monument than a facade.

Three wells, one engineering habit

All three solve one problem: 54 meters at Orvieto, 37 at Perugia, 16 at Matera, each a way to reach water without leaving the walls. Three depths, one idea.

The staircase design at Orvieto is the one that gets photographed, but the Perugia beams are the harder piece of work, and the Matera cistern is the one that was found still full.

If you visit more than one, do Orvieto last. After 496¹ steps you will not want another ladder that day, and the Umbria pages have the connections between them.

↑ Contents