A heavy rainstorm on Monday forced
tourists out of Orvieto's iconic St Patrick's Well as well as
damaging part of the pavement in the centre of the Umbrian town.
Officials ordered the tourists out after the rain engulfed the
50 metre deep well and also knocked out its power supply.
The Pozzo di San Patrizio is a historic well in Orvieto, Umbria,
central Italy. It was built by the architect-engineer Antonio da
Sangallo the Younger of Florence, between 1527 and 1537, at the
behest of Pope Clement VII who had taken refuge at Orvieto
during the sack of Rome in 1527 by the Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, and feared that the city's water supply would be
insufficient in the event of a siege. The well was completed in
1537 during the papacy of Pope Paul III.
The name was inspired by medieval legends that St. Patrick's
Purgatory in Ireland gave access down to Purgatory, indicating
something very deep.
Nortern and central Italy have been hit by a wave of
thunderstorms breaking the sticky afa heat in the last two days.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA