Kick back and relax in this oasis of calm and elegance, located in the center of Orvieto, in the medieval district. Well connected by public transport thanks to the stop a few meters away and easily accessible since it is one minute from Piazza della Repubblica and 500 meters from the Duomo The space Newly renovated apartment, very quiet and located a minute's walk from the central square. Other things to note Legend has it that Mustiola, who belonged to a noble Roman family related to that of the emperor and was therefore betrothed to a sovereign of the Gauls, secretly fell in love with a young Roman aristocrat named Quinziano, who had converted to Christianity. One day, as she was about to meet him, she noticed a man who, unlike all his companions, had been mortally wounded by a mob of guards and ruffians armed with sticks, shouting against Christians. When she approached the young, bloody and disfigured man, she realized with horror that it was her fiancé. Dying, Quinzano had time to give him a small object wrapped in a precious fabric, containing a sacred relic that he was supposed to deliver to the venerable Theodore who lived in the sacred wood of Nomentana, begging her in the name of Jesus and the love that united them, to have it delivered to him. Mustiola had him buried by Christians and then secretly with her nurse Balbina, took the road of the sacred wood. After many adventures and much searching, she was finally taken to a cave, where the old and venerable Theodore sat. The old hermit wept when he heard that the young man had died. Finally, unrolling the fabric of the sacred bundle, he discovered that it was the ring with which the Virgin Mary married Joseph and that the pagans were looking to destroy it. He too, feeling his strength fail and close to death, begged Mustiola to keep it and take it as soon as possible to the land of Chiusi, where a thriving Christian church was ruled by Bishop Lucio. Mustiola, converted to Christianity, left all her riches, and taking Balbina with her, abandoned the comforts of a life that no longer felt her own, fleeing to Chiusi. They hid in the countryside, sought everywhere by the emperor's soldiers. Arriving near Chiusi, while the guards were about to reach them, they found the road blocked by a small lake, with no way to cross it as they could not find a boat. The two women then sat on the cloak that Mustiola had spread over the water and, being pushed by the wind, they miraculously reached the other side. They continued walking and found some farmers who were in a panic. She told them to tell the soldiers who were chasing them that they had seen them while they were waiting for the sowing, which the peasants did. In the meantime, the panic had miraculously grown, and the soldiers were convinced that they had lost them. Even today, on April 3, the anniversary of the passage of the lake and the day of its recurrence, a luminous trail appears, obviously due to a natural effect, as a testimony of the miracle. Once in Chiusi, Mustiola carried out what she had been ordered to do, giving herself to the contemplative life, preserving her chastity and helping the poor. But neither the emperor nor the betrothed forgave her escape, so that when her refuge was discovered, they ordered the Prefect to torture her until she had recanted, under penalty of death. Under the scourges of lead, Mustiola resisted without fear, until she found  death, reaching her Quinziano in heaven. The venerable ring, following continuous disputes, already preserved in Chiusi, considered miraculous especially in cases of blindness, was stolen to Perugia and never returned. A glorious and pious past Dear pilgrim, if you have decided to spend a vacation in this beautiful city, you will have been conquered by the atmosphere rich in ancient flavors that permeates every stone of this place. Look out the window. Your visit to Orvieto starts here, in the maze of narrow streets and alleys, roofs, towers, arches and bell towers that wind through the medieval district where you are. And, if you like stories, we have one to tell you... In the year 1605, precisely on April 11, right here in what is now called Via Pecorelli and which was then more poetically called Via del Sole, the Conservatorio delle Zitelle Sperse was opened, which welcomed its first eleven girls on that very day. The building was founded thanks to the piety of a benefactor, Antonio Simoncelli, who, with his generous bequest, wanted to ensure that young orphans could be housed for the time necessary to obtain a dowry and be able to marry. Soon, however, women who did not exactly have an immaculate past also began to knock on the door of this Convent and ask for asylum.  but who, after a "dissolute" life, felt the need to reconcile with Heaven. They were not refused help, but there were fears of bad influences on the young orphans who were waiting here for a worthy marriage. For this reason, during the 1600s, the bishop decided to separate the part of the building that would be called the "Convertite" and whose guests would be devoted to who in sacred history was the convert par excellence, St. Magdalene, from that of the young virgins. The Institute of the Converts faced this side of the street and in 1687 Bishop Monsignor Millini, to ensure that these women with a dissolute past could not meet with the young women who resided in the Conservatory, officially entrusted them with the small church of Santa Mustiola. Which stood right in this house where you are now. When you go down to the street below, remember to look at the underpass on the right.  That arch is an addition from that period and allowed women who had to officiate religious services from the convent to pass directly into the church without going out into the street. "At the southwest corner of the tower is added a body whose square plan on the first floor rests on two semi-squares covered with lowered vaults. Of these, the western one extends north along the west side of the tower and even beyond, covering a small road for a total length of about twenty meters. In this way, an overpass connection is formed with the ancient church of S. Mustiola located in the block to the west..." But let's leave the now pious converted women to their offices for a moment, because the small and glorious church of Santa Mustiola is actually much older than the years in which these events take place. The chroniclers of the city of Orvieto attest to its existence as early as 1240, in the homonymous region (neighborhood/district) of Santa Mustiola. However, it was in the 16th and 17th centuries that the building experienced its maximum splendor, when it was home to one of the city's most important confraternities. Walking along the characteristic alley that runs alongside the house and looking up towards the windows, you will also notice the beautiful and characteristic hanging apse carved into the tuff that still reminds the passer-by of the religious origins of the house. It is probably a 16th-century work that finds its counterpart in the nearby Abbey of Saints Severinus and Martyrdom. Now look at the epigraph on the architrave of the door. It tells us a lot about this new story that is beginning at the dawn of the 1600s: "ECCLES.A S. MOS.LA SARTORUM PIETATE /CONDITA", that is: "Church of Santa Mustiola erected by the piety of the Tailors". It was the important confraternity of the Sarti that managed the church for several years. In fact, it was not uncommon at this time for craftsmen to gather in confraternities based in religious buildings located throughout the streets of Orvieto. They took care of the protection and well-being of their members and of various works of piety and charity – we could consider them a sort of social assistance before its time! – as well as the maintenance and restoration of the places of worship in which the confraternity was "erected", according to the statutes approved by the bishop or the Pope himself. During this period, the church was enlarged and embellished with paintings and new sacred vestments. It even received a relic (the Veil) of the Saint to whom it was dedicated from Chiusi. It consisted of three altars, one of which, the one dedicated to St. James the Greater, began to house another important Confraternity, that of the Scalzi, from 1615. The Scalzi, as you can guess from the name, were so called because they used to walk without shoes. It was a very important confraternity that was involved in many works of mercy and had the privilege of freeing a prisoner from the episcopal prisons. In the oratory of the church of Santa Mustiola, everything necessary for the release of the first prisoner had been prepared: the confreres gathered there, read the petitions of the poor prisoners – often imprisoned for theft due to extreme poverty – and put the final outcome to the vote. But in the second half of the 1600s, the Scalzi Company began the construction of a new and larger church located in a central point of the city, dedicated to Saints Joseph and James. The two bells that belonged to the church of Santa Mustiola and that still exist today were also brought to this new church. With the abandonment of the church by the Confraternity of the Scalzi, we return to the events that brought our pious Convertite women here, who remained to officiate and take care of this place until 1810 when Napoleon Bonaparte's edict of suppression made numerous convents and monasteries in the city disappear. We have thus come to more recent events, the church was redeveloped as a civil building in the 1900s by the municipal administration and destined to house private homes.  But the suggestions of those times continue today. Stories like this are scattered everywhere in this beautiful city of Orvieto. Stroll through the streets and be surprised to see here and there clues to this past: an ancient arch that emerges in a more modern wall, a small aedicule, an inscription, a fresco, a mullioned window, a column, a niche... A past made by women and men who, with their simple daily gestures, make its memory great today.  Enjoy your stay! Registration Details IT055023C202031071