The Duomo façade

Orvieto's cathedral front is one of the most decorated in Italy: three gables, four pinnacled buttresses in bands of black basalt and pale travertine, four carved marble panels at street level and gold mosaics filling everything above.

It faces west, which decides the whole session. Until early afternoon the front is in its own shadow and reads grey; from about four the sun comes straight onto it and the mosaic turns from dull to genuinely luminous, gold against a deepening blue sky.

The piazza is unusually wide for a hill town, so you can get the whole façade in from the far corner or use the steps for a tighter frame. The buildings opposite bounce warm light back onto anyone standing on the steps.

Entry to the cathedral is ticketed and photography rules inside vary by chapel, so treat the outside as the shoot. Mass times close the square to comfortable working — check the day's schedule before booking a late-afternoon slot.