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Orvieto's origins date back to the Etruscan age, when, in the IX century b.C., people started living in the lava-rock grottos in the hill where the town was later built. In the III century Orvieto was annexed to Rome's territories and remained so until the decline of the Western Roman Empire. After that, it was dominated by the Goths until 553, when the town was conquered by Byzantium. Around the XI century, it became a free Comune, and as such it stayed loyal to the Pope during the battles between Guelphs and Ghibellines. Being protected by the Church allowed Orvieto to flourish; the town reached the apex of its civilization in the XIII century with the formation of the Consiglio Generale dei Quattrocento and the election of the Captain of the People. Many important buildings and churches were built in this century--among which the Duomo (1263), one of the most significant creations of Italian gothic architecture. Other important buildings in Orvieto are the Pozzo di San Patrizio, built in 1527 by Antonio da Sangallo the Young (noteworthy for its respectable size: it is 62 meters deep), the Palazzo dei Sette, in 1300, the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo (1257), the churches of S. Paolo (XIII century), S. Domenico (consacrated in 1264 by St. Thomas Aquinae), the first dominican building ever to be built, S. Giovenale (XI century) and the Palazzo Soliano, built in 1297 by will of the Pope Bonifcio VIII, which hosts the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.