The Chapter Hall has been the seat of the Venerable Confraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament and Holy Rosary since 1905.
Formerly called the trebbio hall, it was built by the Cistercian monks in the first half of the year 1225. It is accessed from the ancient and now almost disappeared cloister, claustrum monasterii. It is a large rectangular hall built as an extension of the north arm of the transept, from which it is separated only by the room that currently serves as the sacristy and is adjacent to the church. It is a single nave, divided into three bays covered by three groin vaults with ribs and a wide arch; during sixteenth-century restorations the hall was extended by one bay that imitates a Gothic cross.
On the right side, two doors open: one leading to the armarium, the other walled up that once led to the sacristy; the architrave is carved with the date (1225) of consecration. The ancient Armarium was the monks’ library called “busaria.” Dating back to the first half of the 13th century and frescoed in 1503 and 1650, it now houses the chapter museum of the Confraternity, including works and objects that testify to the life of the Cistercian abbey and subsequently the Confraternity’s life over the centuries. The “grotesque” decorations of the vaults of the hall date to the second half of the 1500s, attributed to Luzio Romano and executed for the cardinal commendatory Alessandro Farnese. The frescoes on the central band and lunettes date back to the first half of the 1600s. The lunette decorations attributed to Gaspard Doughet depict the Pamphili possessions. The polychrome stucco coat of arms, placed at the center of the band before the last crossing, belongs to Ottaviano Riario Visconti, bishop of Viterbo from 1506 to 1523. The black and white marble floor, made by Francesco Borromini, is similar to that of the side naves of St. John Lateran.
Information on the Chapter Hall of the Venerable Confraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament and Holy Rosary
Piazza Duomo
Viterbo (Viterbo)
0761 379803 – Mr. Bastianelli 3475358259
confrate@libero.it
Source: MIBACT
