St Patrick's Well, skip-the-line entrance

In 1527, following the sack of Rome, Clement VII took refuge in Orvieto and commissioned Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane to build the well that was to serve as a water supply in the event of an enemy siege of the city. Initially the well was to be for the use of the nearby fortified fortress and was therefore known as the Pozzo della Rocca. 

In the 19th century, the building took its current name of St. Patrick's Well at the behest of the friars of the Convent of the Servants, who were familiar with the 'legend of the Irish saint' (according to which Patrick was the guardian of a bottomless cave, the famous 'St. Patrick's Well', from which - after seeing the punishments of Hell - one could enter Purgatory and even glimpse Paradise). It is from this time that the well, having now lost its primary function, became an object of curiosity and attraction for visitors passing through Orvieto. The exterior consists of a wide, low cylindrical construction decorated with the Farnese lilies of Paul III from which two doors open at diametrically opposite points. Over the entrance is the inscription "Quod natura munimento inviderat, industria adiecit" (what nature did not provide, industry did), celebrating the power of human ingenuity capable of making up for the shortcomings of nature.