Viterbo: From the Medieval Quarter to the Fountains of the City of the Popes

Il historic center of Viterbo is a continuous succession of aristocratic palaces, intriguing medieval neighborhoods, churches and cloisters from various eras, slender towers, and elegant peperino stone fountains, the typical local stone. Ancient walls, built between 1095 and 1268, surround the city center of Viterbo, accessible at several points through seven gates, many of which still retain their medieval form, including Porta Fiorita, the oldest.

Viterbo places of interest

1 Medieval District of San Pellegrino

Characteristic, is the medieval district of San Pellegrino, a kind of gallery of 13th-century architectural styles: towers, small squares, narrow streets, arches, and the characteristic profferli, the external staircases of houses that were usually built directly on tuff and lacked foundations. Overlooking the square of the same name are the Palazzo degli Alessandri (13th century), the Torre Scacciaricci, and the Church of San Pellegrino from 1045. The medieval district of San Pellegrino, characterized by ancient peperino stone buildings, with the typical profferlo staircase running along the façades, the narrow cobblestone streets, and red flowers on the windowsills, transports the visitor to a timeless atmosphere and enchants the eye with unexpected views of the city.

2 Piazza del Plebiscito

Piazza del Plebiscito, dominated by the Clock Tower and the Palazzo dei Priori, has been the center of the municipal administration of Viterbo since 1270. Until then, the town hall was in Piazza del Gesù, mentioned by Dante for the murder of Henry of Cornwall by the brothers Guido and Simone di Monfort, which occurred on March 13, 1271, inside the church of the same name.

3 Palazzo dei Priori

The grand Palazzo dei Priori, in Piazza del Plebiscito, the original seat of the municipality, built from the 13th century and completed in the post-Renaissance period, with a beautiful inner courtyard adorned by an elegant loggia and the Fountain of the Lions, and the amazing frescoed interiors: the Royal Hall, the Madonna Hall with a famous painting cycle, the Council Hall, and the Municipal Chapel.

4 Cathedral or Duomo of San Lorenzo

Among other wonders in Viterbo, there is the Cathedral or Duomo of San Lorenzo, built in Romanesque style from the 12th century. From the mid-13th century, with the presence of the popes, it gained considerable importance, becoming the stage of religious and political events of great clamor, such as the excommunication of Conradin of Swabia and the coronation of as many as 7 popes.

Viterbo to see

5 Santuario Madonna della Quercia

The Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Quercia arose around a painted tile, depicting the Virgin with the Child. In the second half of the Fifteenth century, following a plague epidemic, the population erected, in devotion, a wooden hut that surrounded the oak tree. The church, the work of the Dominicans, in Renaissance style, features ceramic lunette on the three entrance portals by Andrea della Robbia, while the coffered ceiling in pure gold is by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.

6 Civic Museum of Viterbo

The Civic Museum has been housed since 1955 in the cloister and premises of the convent annexed to the church of Santa Maria della Verità, founded in the 12th century by the Premonstratensians, and renovated in the 14th century by the Servite Fathers, from whom it derived the name Convent of the Servites. On December 13, 1994, thanks to the efforts made by the Municipality of Viterbo and the Lazio Region, it was presented to the public renewed in all its structures. The Civic Museum presents its heritage on three exhibition levels, variously articulated within two large chronological sections: the Ancient Era on the lower floor, the Middle Ages and the Modern Age on the upper floors.

CLOISTER AND ROOMS ON THE GROUND FLOOR
The cloister houses archaeological finds from the Viterbo area spanning a chronological range from the 8th century BC to the 3rd century AD, through Etruscan and Roman civilization: sarcophagi, funerary steles, fragments of slabs (mostly from Ferento). An exhibition area is dedicated to the figure of Annio da Viterbo and the false relics that the friar had created to support his hypotheses on the Etruscan history of the Tuscia capital.
FIRST FLOOR
On the first floor, the historical-artistic section is exhibited, formed after the Unification of Italy: medieval paintings and sculptures, paintings of the Modern Age (the “Pietà”).
SECOND FLOOR
The third exhibition level is reserved for minor arts and historical memories. It includes the display of a sixteenth-century papal treasure and a set of 18th-century pharmacy ceramics from the Ospedale Grande degli Infermi, as well as a collection of design-drawings of the Macchina di Santa Rosa. The exhibition concludes with a significant gallery of 18th-century portraits in which several figures linked to the origins and the early development of the civic collections housed in the Museum are also recognizable.

What to see in Viterbo

7 The fountains of Viterbo

Not to be missed, a look at the fountains, numerous and mostly from the medieval era, which, as a whole, create an architectural system that perhaps has no equal in Italy. In the squares of Viterbo there seem to be 99 fountains, all with the characteristic spindle shape with the lion’s head and leaves decorating the upper part. The oldest, dated 1200, would be the fountain in Piazza della Morte, which takes its name from the “Religious Brotherhood of Prayer and Death,” which resided here. The fountain in Piazza della Rocca holds the record for its imposing size, while the Fountain of Piazza Grande is recognized as the most beautiful, at one time called Fontana Separi, meaning “without equal in beauty.”

8 Palace of the Popes

Viterbo is called the “city of the Popes,” in memory of the time when the papal seat was moved here as a refuge from the fights in Rome. The Palace of the Popes of 1255 stands on the summit of San Lorenzo hill, where the homonymous Cathedral of 1192 and the 14th-century bell tower in Tuscan Gothic style rise. The artistic loggia, built in 1267, is the pride of the palace: characterized by seven arches and the crescent underneath, it is an elegant terrace overlooking the Faul valley, from which the Popes would look out to give blessings. The facade is preceded by a wide staircase and topped by scenic battlements and leads to the palace’s entrance door, the access point to the Hall of the Conclave. Here took place the first Conclave in history, which owes its name to the citizens of Viterbo: in 1270, after 3 years from the death of Pope Clement IV, the citizens, tired of waiting for the election of the new Pontiff, locked the cardinals in and uncovered the palace roof, forcing them to quickly elect Gregory X.

9 The walls of Viterbo

A walk around the mighty walls, which surround the historic center, equipped with ancient gates, often accompanied by a noble tower (originally more than a hundred are said to have existed), guarding not only the respective palace but also the city.

10 Basilica and Convent of San Francesco alla Rocca

Entering from Porta Fiorentina on the left, in the upper part of piazza san Francesco, stands the monumental complex of the Basilica and Convent of San Francesco alla Rocca. Construction began in 1237, on an area donated to the Franciscans by Gregory IX. In 1873 the church-convent complex was expropriated due to the suppression of religious orders, and only in 1886 was the temple, declared a national monument, reopened for worship. The bombings of 1944 heavily damaged the church, leaving only the perimeter walls standing. The reconstruction, completed in 1953 by the Superintendence, restored the temple to its original lines. In the church, notable for beauty are the mausoleum of Adrian V, attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio, the mausoleum of Clement IV, by Pietro Oderisio, and the oil jar signed by the Vassalletto.

In the convent’s premises are housed: the inter-conventual library and a museum of contemporary art, with works by Greco, Mastroianni, Brindisi, Cesetti, De Chirico, Valery Escalar, and others. This museum is the result of the intelligent work of Father Felice Rossetti (native of Grotte) who, over the years, managed to accumulate the material now on display.

11 Herbarium Museum of Tuscia

It is one of the three university herbaria of Lazio, included in the network of Museums of the City of Viterbo and the Network of University Museums of the CRUI (Conference of Rectors of Italian Universities). The Herbarium Museum of Tuscia has been listed since 1996 in the Index Herbariorum (worldwide herbarium catalog) with the acronym ‘UTV’ and today boasts a collection of over 29,000 dried specimens of ‘spermatophytes’ and ‘pteridophytes’ in excellent condition, gathered in 360 bundles; the specimens were provided by more than 700 Italian and foreign collectors and the collection increases by about 500-1,000 specimens a year. The Herbarium has a library with more than 150 volumes, equipment for preparation, study, and preservation of specimens, and an important computerized archive. It represents a structure primarily dedicated to the study of plant biodiversity and its documentation over time, with particular reference to the Italian territory, ensuring consultation and loan of samples especially to taxonomic and geobotanical specialists.

12 Museum of the House of Santa Rosa

The Santa Rosa monastic structure was founded by Pope Innocent III to host a group of pious Viterbo women who had retired to San Marco hill to live according to Franciscan rules. From this moment, the structure, being located on the Via Francigena, became a meeting and passing point for pilgrims headed to Rome. The sanctuary hosts, since 1253, the incorrupt body of Santa Rosa.

A characteristic cultural event of the city is the “Machine of Santa Rosa”: a tower 28 meters high and weighing 5 tons, carried by the Facchini di Santa Rosa, the city’s patron saint, which every September 3rd for about 750 years has been carried on shoulders through the city streets.

Outside the city center is the Bullicame spring, a source of sulfurous water mentioned by Dante in the XIV canto of the Inferno, whose aesthetic and healing properties make it one of the main tourist destinations of the city. Not far away, the Signorino street offers a suggestive path between the walls of an ancient Etruscan road carved in tuff, as well as many underground galleries that once connected buildings within the city, now used as cellars.

Villa Lante in Bagnaia, a district of Viterbo, together with the Bomarzo Monster Park, is one of the most famous Italian surprise Mannerist gardens of the 16th century.

What to do in Viterbo

15  Where and what to eat in Viterbo

Viterbo is full of venues, taverns, and typical Tuscia trattorias with average prices. Among the gastronomic specialties, we recommend lombrichetti, a tasty water and flour pasta, the acquacotta viterbese, chicory, potato, and poached egg soup, and the tozzetti with hazelnuts replacing the traditional Sienese almonds.

16  Where to sleep in Viterbo

The accommodations in Viterbo have prices varying depending on the type and category. They range from more affordable B&Bs to luxury 5-star hotels. It all depends on how much you intend to spend.