The modern funicular that connects Orvieto scalo to the city center since 1990 is a modern and rapid means of transportation. The funicular runs along the same route of the original one of Orvieto which worked with an ingenious water counterweight system. The first funicular in the city was built and commissioning in October of 1888 by the entrepreneur G. Bracci. The original project was the work of Adolfo Cozza, a local engineer whose bronze statue is placed near the Palazzo del Popolo.
To operate the original system required water, in the past there was in Orvieto center a water basin for this purpose. Today the remains of this water basin (pics on the left) is near the parking of Via Roma. A restored model of a water-powered funicular is now visible in Piazza della Pace (the square under the train station) and it is free to visitors from the new information desk and coffee bar. Today, inside the funicular has been installed a small original cinema with 16 seats.
