Advent Calendar or…?

View of the dove lofts from the corridor


Dove loft of one house

Recently on our trip to the Tuscan region of Italy, we stopped for a nice restful night in the city of Orvieto. A small town by the standards set by our previous stop in Rome, but perfect as a small respite for our tired minds and muscles. The main attraction to people, who come on day trips, is the duomo, a magnificent church built at the very top of the city. We however decided on something less obvious and more adventurous and interesting to some, we went into the caves under the city. These caves number in the hundreds and they are still discovering more. One of the most interesting things in these caves are the holes carved in the walls, our tour guide asked what we thought they were, but none of us had any idea. These interesting features are actually dove lofts. The dove lofts allowed the Etruscans to resist invasion from the Romans for two years before they fell from a lack of water. For the more adventurous day traveler it is an interesting experience.