Orvieto Hotel Kristall

The Fortress of Albornoz

The Fortress of Albornoz, built in 1364 by order of Cardinal Albornoz and commissioned by Pope Innocenzo VI, rises on of the left part of Piazza Cahen.
The fortress was created more to demonstrate the impregnability of certain territories than for strictly military reasons. The first century of its existence was rather turbulent. In 1390 it was destroyed by battles of citizens but was rebuilt once again, with the addition of the tower, in 1450 by Antonio Carpi, who was substituted by Bernardo Rossellino.
In the first part of XVI century it was restored and put back in order by the papal soldiers. Until the 1700s it maintained its function as a military structure, but in the first years of the 1800s it went to rack and ruin. From that moment it changed purpose until it became the current site of the public gardens.