A sheer tufa outcrop, the remains of ancient volcanoes fractured by millennia of ice, sun and rain, rises abruptly from the plain and supports the spectacular medieval city of Orvieto.  In the Etruscan era a city called Velzna stood herald became rich through commerce with traders from the Tyrrhenian Sea and the north. The Roman took over in 264 BC and virtually destroyed the town. Revival came only in the Middle Ages, when. Orvieto developed into a free and powerful commune, albeit one troubled by civic strife. The Black Death of 1348 was devastating, however, and Orvieto eventually came under papal control. The old city, with its superb duomo, has changed little in the last 500 years, and attracts thousands of tourists every year.