- Teatro Mancinelli - We meet here where I will give a broad outline of the places we shall visit and the effect that they had on Freud.
- Piazza della Repubblica - Palazzo Bisenzi off Piazza Repubblica was once the home of the ‘Hotel Delle Belle Arti’ where Freud stayed on each of his three trips to Orvieto. Also, the Church of Sant Andrea with its remarkable fresco of St Julian the Hospitaller affected Freud.
- Well of St. Patrick - The well is 50m deep and a wonder of Renaissance architecture. After the cathedral, it has been the number two attraction since even before Freud’s day. It is analogous to Freud’s descent into his unconscious.
- Necropoli etrusca di Crocifisso del Tufo - Freud visited the Etruscan Necropolis whose house-like tombs so affected him that a dream he had about being buried in one, made its way into ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’. We stop for a coffee here at the Igloo Café.
- Duomo di Orvieto - You will be accompanied into the cathedral to see the ‘End of the World’ frescoes by Renaissance artist Luca Signorelli that so influenced Freud that they led eventually to the discovery of the ‘Freudian slip’. We shall also see the fresco cycle illustrating the Miracle of Bolsena and the remarkable Baroque sculpture, The Pietà, by Scalza, both of which affected Freud.
- All fees and/or taxes
- Walking tour of the principal places Freud visited during his stay in Orvieto
- Lunch
When Freud visited Orvieto in September 1897, he was so impressed by what he saw and experienced during his three days, that it changed the course of his life, and thus ours. What was it that triggered his Epiphany? This tour will show you. He was halfway through life’s journey, but like his hero Dante, lost in a dark wood. He was suffering from anxiety and confusion, but also the intellectual excitement of a new start. He was mourning the death of his father. He had suffered a hostile reception to his latest theory by his peers. He was fearful of rising antisemitism in Vienna. He was also withdrawing from cocaine addiction. We shall retrace his steps and I will illustrate why these Orvieto places had such a profound effect. Orvieto’s Etruscan sites and museums unleashed his passion for archeology and antique collecting. The tour embraces art, psychology, archeology, and the biography of a genius. The famous Freudian slip was born of his visit here.
- Most of the tour is a walkabout, but for the Etruscan Cemetery you will be taken by car
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
