Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing it, between Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time), by using the blue link-up button below.
The Doors of Orvieto – Part #2
Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you door lovers out there.
Picking up where we left off last week in front of the Duomo in the ancient town of Orvieto here are some more beauties to be found there.
Pope Urban IV gave the go-ahead to build the Duomo in Orvieto with construction starting in 1290 and taking a little over 3 centuries to complete.
These huge bronze doors are one of the most striking features of this structure, considered to be one of the most important examples of Italian Romanesque/Gothic architecture.
This gives you an idea of the layers of texture and exhaustive detail built into the facade.
In 1309 Sienese sculptor and architect Lorenzo Maitani was brought in to get the slow-moving project on track. The horizontal striped 2-tone exterior, copied from the Duomo in Siena is his doing.
It was too beautiful a day to be cooped up indoors and after spending almost four and a half hours sitting on trains earlier in the day, we decided to keep walking around the town rather than go inside.
We explored a number of small streets and alleyways marveling at how each building had its own unique-looking door.
Of course not all doors lead into buildings…
and it’s not always just about pretty doors either 😉
In any town this old you’ll find a number of the doors that seem to have been custom-built to fit the specific slightly odd-shaped opening they fill.
Since I was stopping in front of virtually every door I walked past, rather than losing me around this corner the ladies put their stroll on idle and waited for me to catch up.
Not surprisingly this was a frequent occurrence when we were out exploring with camera in hand. My wife is patient beyond belief, and Manja is afflicted with the same door addiction as me, so the few days we spent together could best be described as “co-enabling” 😀
Next time we’ll take a look at what we found around the corner.
As always, thank you so much for looking 🙂
Note: If you notice that our Inlinkz blue frog is M.I.A. this week, that’s because I’m experimenting with their new format. We’ll try this out for a few weeks and see how it goes.
Want to join in on the fun and share your own Thursday Doors post with other door lovers? Click on the blue button below to add the link to your Thursday Doors post to our link-up list.
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enterDon’t forget that if you share your blog posts on social media, use the #ThursdayDoors hashtag to help others find you, and please do take a few minutes to visit some of the Thursday Door posts shared by others.
Let me give you my opinion on the new link-gathering device: I like it because there is the photo from the post. I don’t like it because under the photo there is the title of the post instead of the blog name (as we’ve come to expect, but I could get used to it with time). I don’t mind myself but obviously some people will have problems since now signing in is required to leave the link. And there is no more frog in your post to click on! 😀
Bottom line: if it’s easier for you, use this new style, but if it’s all the same for you, you can also leave the old one. I wouldn’t mind. (But I don’t know what spurred the change in the first place.)
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InLinkz is gradually going to phase out the older version so eventually I’ll have no choice but to use the new one, or perhaps use something else if I can find a reasonable alternative.
Some people love this new version and some people don’t, including for the reason you mentioned.
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Oh, I see. In that case this is a good alternative. We’ll all get used to it. Photos are a cheerful addition.
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Those bronze doors are fabulous Norm!! The details in the architecture are so amazing and I love that two-tone. I’m sure it was even more spectacular in person!
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Thank you Amy. Yes indeed Orvieto was quite something to see in person 🙂
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the texture and details and fantastic (and so are the patterns and graffiti in couple)- enjoyed this rich post and wishing you a good week. And i will be sharing some doors next month – I am doing some minimal weekend blogging right now to cut back my online hours – but I miss the door shares and will see you all very soon – peace
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We’ll be here whenever you’re ready to jump back in. The more the merrier 😉
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Thanks – you really are a great host and of course doors are just a special part of life from
Canada to the states to across the globe –
Hope you have a nice week
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All of that co-enabling worked out. What a gorgeous roundup of doors (and other architectural treasures)!
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Thank you Leah 🙂
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Great doors! It must have been a really good visit!
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Thank you 🙂
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What a fantastic doorscursion with Manja! Love your door finds and the photography is excellent!
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Thanks for ignoring the smudges on the lens 😉
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Wow! The detail on the Duomo is spectacular, and so is the variety of doors you found wandering around (ah, the joys of having no schedule, just time to meander with camera in hand)!
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Ahh yes, a camera, no schedule, and all the time in the world to wander explore 🙂
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Beautiful church and doors.
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Glad you liked them 🙂
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Love all these doors! My favorite is the arch, with your co-enablers beyond, waiting. I’m a sucker for perspectives beyond openings.
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Thanks Marian. They were very good co-enablers 🙂
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Great collection, as always! And some great “weathered” doors for mine to compete with… 🙂
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Yes more than a few of these could use some TLC 🙂
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300 years!!! That kind of timeline blows my mind.
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With a time frame like that I can only imagine how many design changes were incorporated into the original plans.
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That striped effect on all the walls must have been very striking. I have only seen it on one wall (also a church in Cinque Terre). Three centuries – wow, that’s a few generations – incredible – hard to imagine such a long time of building!
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Well for a modern comparison La Sagrada in Barcelona has been under construction since 1882 and is still a few decades away from completion.
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More great doors, and a black and white duomo. What else do we need in life?
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More time in Italy, perhaps? 😀
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Yup.
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Ooh! I like the new frog link!
I am so glad you got all up on that church. The exterior texture is amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. And with the angel — that’s a stunning detail!
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The jury is still out on the new frog. Gonna give it a few more weeks before making a decision. Thanks for your feedback on it 🙂
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I like the photo gallery attached.
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Exquisite as always. I see a smudge on some and remembered you having an issue with that. Are these from that same time line? It did not detract from the beauty of the shots or your work. Beautiful.
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Yes these are from the same shoot so the smudge was there all afternoon 😦
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I lust love the photos of that church!
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Thank you Jackie 🙂
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Janis always seems to steal my comment before I can even write it. 🙂 The sculpture climbing the wall (Photo #5) caught my attention the most. I want to know more!
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I think that it’s an Angel but I can’t find anything about it online
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Interesting carvings on that door. Almost looks like people fighting!
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Thanks Jan. It sure gets peoples’ attention 🙂
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What a gorgeous building! The doors are wonderful, but I am especially interested in that sculpture of the (woman/demon?) climbing the wall. Do you know more about that?
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I think that it’s an Angel but I haven’t been able to find anything about it online.
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Gorgeous doors. My Zambian village doors are authentic, but not in the same league.
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Thanks Ian 🙂
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Orvieto seems great 🙂
(As well as new Inlinkz for contributors, improved and very convenient. I like it)
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Thank you 🙂
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Fabulous doors, as always. I’m wondering if that figure on the wall (with shadow, nice!) is a demon? Or is it supposed to be an angel? Love that image. So intriguing.
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I think that it’s an Angel but I can’t find anything about it online anywhere.
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Either way, it’s fascinating. Love that shot.
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This is such a great series. Everytime I look at them I want to dust off my travelling shoes.
Pat
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Thanks for the kinds words 🙂
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Liked your old link method, so here’s mine: https://gwhphotos.wordpress.com/2019/02/14/thursday-doors-february-14-2019/
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That set of massive doors. Wow.
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Yes they probably weigh about 800 lbs each.
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Here are my Thursday doors, Norm: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2019/02/14/puesta-del-sol-thursday-doors-feb-14-2019/
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Evil person, you feed my travel hunger EVERY WEEK! Thank you!
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Muahahaha! 😉
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I’m glad I was sitting down when I saw the Duomo. What a lot of work!! Makes me tired just thinking about it. 🙂 As for stopping all the time for door photos, my family has gotten used to that as well, although I never have had an enabler. They’ve gotten now so sometimes they point out a good door, though. But hey, it’s free, harmless fun and how much of that is around these days? 🙂
janet
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It is harmless fun so it’s good to know our loved ones are willing to put up with us 😀
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Beautiful choices for this post. You’re very lucky to have a partner that is patient while you indulge in taking the photos!
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Thanks Corina. Yes I am a very lucky man indeed 🙂
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Oh wow! Your photos of those bronze doors are gorgeous and unique and worthy of note… and many other good things. Thanks for sharing them here.
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Thanks for the kind words Ally 🙂
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Reblogged this on All About Writing and more.
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Thank you!
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U are welcome
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Since the pingback didn’t seem to work, here’s my link
https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2019/01/23/no-maga-dog/
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The doors of the Duomo look quite amazing (so does the sunlight). I love this continuing trip through Italy.
Inlinkz now requires passwords. Too bad. I think I’ll have to go back to leaving only pingbacks.
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Duly noted. Thanks for the feedback.
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PS I really really like the new InLinkz!
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So far the reviews are mixed. I’ll give it a few weeks before making a decision.
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Lovely photos of the Duomo! My favorite is the door with the angel in the church stucco. Did you notice the shadow of the angel shows up on the opposite wall too?
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Thanks, glad you liked them. No I didn’t notice 🙂
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I sharing my post here as the new link format is problematic for me. https://chava61.wordpress.com/2019/02/14/thursday-doors-february-14-2019/
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Ok duly noted.
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These really are some of the finest doors in the world. Love your second and third photos. Thanks for always sharing places I’d love to see!!
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Thanks for the kind words 🙂
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Your door shots are all so amazing, showing all the details!!!
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Thank you 🙂
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“Co-enabling” – I like that.
I like the rounded buttresses on that first church. Can you imagine a project spanning 3 centuries? I love the worn wooden doors below the church. Good idea to keep moving around. And arched, wooden doors, what can I say…
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Those were originally designed as flying buttresses but somewhere along the way they decided to encase them. I can only imagine how many discussions and design changes can go into a 300 year project.
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The thought makes my head hurt.
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Hihih, co-enabling is right! 😀 Lovely presentation of great doors. You made these beasts fly our of the facade alright. It was indeed just the first of your days and all were glorious. Great hook-throwing too: now even I pin to learn what was around the corner, even though I was there! 😀 😀
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Well then you’ll just have to stay tuned until next week 😉
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I’m still gob-smacked by the Duomo. The photo of the door caught on angle with the people as perspective was the biggest wow. It truly showed how massive those doors were. There is nothing quite like an Old World church for flaunting opulence.
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Thanks Joanne. From the pics of the interior that I saw in my research it’s not nearly as “Catholic” on the inside as its twin in Siena. We saw that one in 2013 and that was one of the most opulent interiors I have ever seen,
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As always, you lead the door parade with some truly amazing historic doors and some eclectic ones as well. 🙂
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Thank you Judy 🙂
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Always help if you have a co-enabler! Fabulous doors and post as always 😍
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It does indeed. Thanks for joining us this week 🙂
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