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ORVIETO

Students will live and work in the walled hill town of Orvieto, which sits on a spectacular butte of volcanic rock that rises 1,000 feet from the valley floor. Long before the ancient Romans conquered central Italy, Orvieto was one of the twelve federated cities of the Etruscan league. During medieval times Orvieto acquired wealth as an independent city state, and in the Renaissance, control passed to the Popes, many of whom used Orvieto as an official residence. Orvieto is famous for its gorgeous gothic Duomo, Saint Patrick’s Well, Etruscan underground city, and wines. In the long summer evenings, daytrippers disperse, and you’ll have enchanting medieval streets almost to yourself.

Arranging Your Own Lodging

Orvieto has many lodging options. You should make sure to stay in the city’s medieval center—do NOT stay in nearby places like Orvieto Scalo, Sferracavallo, Ciconia, or Gabelletta. While these are all part of Orvieto’s comune (municipality), they are frazioni (outlying areas) and not walkable from the town center. We strongly suggest consulting with us before finalizing any booking.

We recommend reviewing the available choices on AirBnB, where you can often find better rates and a greater variety of accommodations than in the local hotels. CLICK HERE for search results for Centro Storico Orvieto (historic center Orvieto), and enter your dates to refine options.

If you would like to stay in a hotel, a few options include the following:

More choices are available Expedia and Booking.com. Please be advised that many 3-star hotels in Italy can seem like 2-star hotels to the American traveler. As we do not have direct experience of many of the available choices, we recommend reviewing each in detail and drawing your own conclusions.

If you are looking for the most affordable option, we strongly suggest booking through us at the Istituto San Lodovico – see below.

Lodging Included: Istituto San Lodovico

If you choose our lodging included option, you will be staying in the Istituto San Lodovico, a convent with its own grounds on the town’s southwestern wall. San Lodovico hosts several creative seminars and workshops every year. San Lodovico is managed by the Sisters of the Company of Mary Our Lady, a religious order founded in 1607 by Saint Joanne of Lestonac. The main purpose of the order was to educate women, and it did so in Orvieto for many generations, beginning in 1834. The school closed in 1998 and since 2024 nuns are no longer in residence, but the sisters still run the preschool and offer year-round hospitality and lodging to guests.

The history of the convent itself is difficult to reconstruct due to the loss of historical records. The convent already existed in 1300, but the building’s origins date to the 3rd or 4th century BC—under the grounds of the convent are Etruscan wells and caves excavated in the rock. From 1300 to 1800 the convent was occupied by different religious orders until it passed to the Sisters. The grounds of the convent today are fairly modern by Italian standards, with the entrance hall probably built around 1800. The annex to the convent is the Church of San Lodovico, dating back to 1350 and restored in 1746.

Read the Chicago Tribune article about San Lodovico: “In Italy, a Room for the Soul” (Note: The rates quoted in the above article are very out of date.)

Accommodations

Single rooms are available, or two students may request to share a room, which are all en suite. For couples, the single beds in the double rooms can be made up as a double bed. Check out the pictures below to get a sense of the rooms, or visit San Lodovico’s website. See REGISTRATION for rates.

San Lodovico provides a continental breakfast every day, and offers complimentary wireless internet, although you may find service is more reliable in the local cafes. Students will be on their own for other meals, except for welcome and farewell dinners, though our groups often choose to eat together.

San Lodovico Courtyard
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San Lodovico Courtyard

San Lodovico bedroom
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San Lodovico Bedroom

San Lodovico bedroom
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San Lodovico Bedroom