Viterbo
Encyclopedia
See also Viterbo, Texas
and Viterbo University
Viterbo is an ancient city and comune
in the Lazio region of central Italy
, the capital of the province of Viterbo
. It is approximately 80 driving / 80 walking kilometers (50/50 mi) north of GRA (Rome
) on the Via Cassia
, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and Monti Volsini
. The historic center of the city is surrounded by medieval walls, still intact, built during the 11th and 12th centuries. Entrance to the walled center of the city is through ancient gates.
Apart from agriculture, the main resources of Viterbo's area are pottery, marble, and wood. The town also hosts the Italian gold reserves, an important Academy of Fine Arts, and the University of Tuscia, and is located in a wide thermal area, attracting many tourist from the whole central Italy.
king Desiderius
in his vain attempt to conquer Rome
. When the Popes
switched to the Frankish
support, Viterbo became part of the Papal States
, but this status was to be highly contested by the Emperors in the following centuries, until in 1095 it is known it was a free comune
.
In a period in which the Popes had difficulties asserting their authority over Rome
, Viterbo became their favourite residence, beginning with Pope Eugene III
(1145–1146) who was besieged in vain in the city walls. In 1164 Frederick Barbarossa made Viterbo the seat of his Antipope Paschal III
. Three years later he gave it the title of "city" and used its militias against Rome. In 1172 Viterbo started its expansion, destroying the old city of Ferentum and conquering other lands: in this age it was a rich and prosperous comune, one of the most important of Central Italy, with a population of almost 60,000.
In 1207, Pope Innocent III
held a council in the cathedral, but the city was later excommunicated as favourite seat of the heretical Patari and even defeated by the Romans. In 1210, however, Viterbo managed to defeat the Emperor Otto IV
and was again in war against Rome.
In the thirteenth century it was ruled alternately by the tyrants of the Gatti and Di Vico families. Frederick II
drew Viterbo to the Ghibelline side in 1240, but when the citizens expelled his turbulent German troops in 1243 he returned and besieged
the city, but in vain. From that point Viterbo was always a loyal Guelph
. Between 1257 and 1261 it was the seat of Pope Alexander IV
, who also died here. His successor Urban IV
was elected in Viterbo.
In 1266-1268 Clement IV
chose Viterbo as the base of his ruthless fight against the Hohenstaufen
: here, from the loggia of the Papal Palace
, he excommunicated the army of Conradin
of Swabia
which was passing on the Via Cassia
, with the prophetical motto of the "lamb who is going to the sacrifice". Other popes elected in Viterbo were Gregory X
(1271) and John XXI
(1276) (who died in the Papal Palace when the ceiling of the recently-built library collapsed on him while he slept), Nicholas III
and the French
Martin IV
. The Viterbese, who did not agree with the election of a foreigner directed by the King of Naples
, Charles I of Anjou, invaded the cathedral where the conclave
was held, arresting two of the cardinals. They were subsequently excommunicated, and the Popes avoided Viterbo for 86 years.
Without the Popes, the city fell into the hands of the Di Vicos. In the fourteenth century, Giovanni di Vico
had created a seignory extending to Civitavecchia
, Tarquinia
, Bolsena
, Orvieto
, Todi
, Narni
and Amelia
. His dominion was crushed by Cardinal Gil de Albornoz in 1354, sent by the Avignon
ese popes to recover the Papal States
, who built the Castle. In 1375 the city gave its keys to Francesco Di Vico, son of the previous tyrant, but thirteen years later the people killed him and assigned the city first to Pope Urban VI
, and then to Giovanni di Sciarra di Vico, Francesco's cousin. But Pope Boniface IX
's troops drove him away in 1396 and established a firm Papal suzerainty over the city. The last Di Vico to hold power in Viterbo was Giacomo, who was defeated in 1431.
Thenceforth Viterbo became a city of secondary importance, following the vicissitudes of the Papal States
. In the 16th century it was the birthplace of Latino Latini
. It becoming part of Italy
in 1871. In 2001, School Year Abroad
's Italy program began a school for students of Latin in Viterbo.
, one of the mythological founders of Viterbo. The palm tree was added sometime in the Dark Ages (4th-9th century CE) when Viterbo conquered and absorbed a neighboring town: Ferento. The letters FAUL, often surround the badges. It is unclear what they refer to. Some suggest the four legendary Etruscan nobles families, believed to be involved in the founding of the city, while others claim that they are in reference to the four hills of Viterbo.
(Köppen climate classification
Csa).
Viterbo's historic center is one of the best preserved medieval towns of central Italy. Many of the older buildings (particularly churches) are built on top of ancient ruins, recognizable by their large stones, 50 centimeters to a side.
The main attraction of Viterbo is the Papal Palace (Palazzo dei Papi
), that served as a country residence and a repair in time of trouble in Rome. The columns of the palace are spolia from a Roman temple.
The second most important monument of the city is the Cathedral of S. Lorenzo
. It was erected in Romanesque
style by Lombard
architects over a temple of Hercules
. It was variously rebuilt from the sixteenth century on, and was heavily damaged in 1944 by Allied bombs. The notable Gothic
belfry is from the first half of the fourteenth century, and shows influence of Senese
artists. The church houses the sarcophagus of Pope John XXI
and the picture Christ Blessing by Gerolamo da Cremona (1472).
Other notable monuments are:
The Museo Civico (City Museum) houses many archeological specimens from the pre-historical to Roman times, plus a Pinacoteca (gallery) with paintings of Sebastiano del Piombo
, Antoniazzo Romano
, Salvator Rosa
, Antiveduto Grammatica
and others. The Orto Botanico dell'Università della Tuscia
is a botanical garden
operated by the university.
In the valley of the Arcione River just to west of Viterbo are a number of springs celebrated for the healing qualities of their waters, and in use since Etruscan and Roman days. In fact, the imposing ruins of a great Roman bath still are to be seen and weredrawn in plan and perspective by Renaissance masters, including Giuliano da Sangallo
, Michelangelo
, and Giorgio Vasari
. One of most famous of these thermal springs was that known as the "Bulicame", or bubbling place, whose reputation had even reached the ears of the exiled poet Dante Aligheri. Canto 14 (lines 79-81) of Dante's Inferno
describes how:
In silence we had reached a place where flowed
a slender watercourse out of the wood—a stream
whose redness makes me shudder still.
As from the Bulicame pours a brook whose
waters are then shared by prostitutes, so did this
stream run down across the sand.
Not far from the Bulicame whose waters, apparently, were always taken in the open, is the Bagno del Papa (Bath of the Pope). Almost totally concealed within the structure of a modern luxury spa hotel are the remains of a Renaissance bath palace that attracted the active attention of two popes. Actually, the origins of this bathing establishment go back into the Middle Ages when it was known as the Bagno della Crociata (so named after a Crusader who supposedly discovered the spring or from a corruption of the Italian word for crutch). Early 15th-century documents provide a description of the medieval bath building that covered three distinct thermal springs all under one roof.
This bath house was radically transformed by the first humanist
pope of the Italian Renaissance, Nicholas V, who, c. 1454, ordered the construction of a bath palace to be built (according to Nicholas's biographer, Gianozzo Manetti) "with such magnificence and with such expense that it was not only deemed suitable for a stay and salutary for the sick but seemed an edifice destined to have rooms fit for princes and for living regally." A more precise description of just what Pope Nicholas ordered constructed is found in the wriings of the Viterbese chronicler Nicola della Tuccia, who in the 1470s described the new Bagno del Papa as a battlemented building about 30 x 20 m in size with high towers at the corners of its southern facade. Its appearance would have been more fortress than watering place. Located outside Viterbo the thermal spa would have been an easy target for roving bands of bandits had the building not assumed a militant character, one which also affirmed papal authority in this region. Aside from the regal apartments described by Manedtti there were vaulted chambers at the lowest level to accommodate the patrons of the several thermal springs.
Manetti, followed by Vasari, named the Florentine architect and sculptor Bernardo Rossellino
as the person responsible for a series of building projects carried out throughout the papal states at the orders of Pope Nicholas and his name is usually associated with the project in Viterbo. There is, however, no reason, either through documentation or architectural style, to connect Rossellino directly with the construction of the Bagno del Papa. To the contrary, Vatican payment records from 1454, preserved in the State Archives in Rome, identify stonemason from Lombardy, named Stefano di Beltrame, as the builder who "had done or was doing in the house ordered by the pope at the bagni della Grotta and Crociata of Viterbo.".
Construction work at the Bagno del Papa was continued on through the reigns of several popes who followed Nicholas V. The Vatican account books make mention of payments "for building done at the bath palace of Viterbo" during the reigns of Calixtus III, Paul II
, and Sixtus IV. There also is strong evidence that Pope Pius II was responsible for the addition of a western wing to the building.
Travelers' descriptions, etched views, and local guidebooks chronicle the fate of the Renaissance Bagno del Papa over the years and through several rebuildings resulting in a general assumption that most of the original 15th-century structure had vanished. A guide to Viterbo from 1911 does note that some remnants were still to be detected in basement piers and vaults. In operation as a thermal hospital in 1927, the building was blown up by retreating German forces in 1944.
Despite all the rebuildings, the demolition attempt, post-war reconstruction and the latest modification as a resort destination, much of the original Bagno del Papa of Popes Nicholas V and Pius II survives, including the corner towers and the vaulted chambers where Renaissance patrons once bathed.
The Villa Lante
, an example of Mannerist
gardening, is located in the frazione of Bagnaia.
is the patron saint of Viterbo. The legend of Santa Rosa is that she helped to eradicate those few who supported the emperors instead of the Popes, around 1250. Saint Lawrence
is the male patron saint.
takes place every year, on September 3, at 9 o'clock in the evening. The Macchina is an artistic illuminated bell-tower with an imposing height of 30 m. It weighs between 3.5 and 5 tonnes and is made of iron, wood and papier-mâché
. At the top of the tower, the statue of the Patron Saint is enthusiastically acclaimed by the people in the streets of the town centre, where lights are turned off for the occasion. One hundred Viterbesi men (known as the Facchini) carry the Macchina from Porta Romana through the each of the major streets of Viterbo to seven churches to be blessed, concluding with a strenuous ascension up to the Piazza di Santa Rosa, its final resting place. Each Macchina's lifespan differs, but contests are held every few years in order for a new design.
was opened in 1936 as part of Viterbo Air Force Base, located 3 km from the town. On November 26, 2007, Italian transport minister Alessandro Bianchi announced that Viterbo had been chosen as the site of the next Airport in Lazio to serve Rome, over Latina, Frosinone
, and Guidonia
.
Viterbo, Texas
Viterbo is an unincorporated area in central Jefferson County, Texas. It is located along West Port Arthur Road and the Southern Pacific Railroad, seven miles south of downtown Beaumont and across a highway from the unincorporated area of Beauxart Gardens.A railroad stop was established during a...
and Viterbo University
Viterbo University
Viterbo University is a Roman Catholic liberal arts university located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States in the Diocese of La Crosse.-History:...
Viterbo is an ancient city and comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
in the Lazio region of central Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the capital of the province of Viterbo
Province of Viterbo
The Province of Viterbo is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo. It is bordered to the north by the Province of Grosseto and Siena, by the north-east with the Province of Terni and Rieti, in the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and south by the Province of Rome.It...
. It is approximately 80 driving / 80 walking kilometers (50/50 mi) north of GRA (Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
) on the Via Cassia
Via Cassia
The Via Cassia was an important Roman road striking out of the Via Flaminia near the Milvian Bridge in the immediate vicinity of Rome and, passing not far from Veii traversed Etruria...
, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and Monti Volsini
Monti Volsini
The Monti Volsini or Vulsini are a minor mountain range in northern Lazio, Italy, near the Lake Bolsena. The highest point is that of Passo della Montagnola, in the comune of Latera, at c. 645 m....
. The historic center of the city is surrounded by medieval walls, still intact, built during the 11th and 12th centuries. Entrance to the walled center of the city is through ancient gates.
Apart from agriculture, the main resources of Viterbo's area are pottery, marble, and wood. The town also hosts the Italian gold reserves, an important Academy of Fine Arts, and the University of Tuscia, and is located in a wide thermal area, attracting many tourist from the whole central Italy.
History
The first report of the new city dates to the eighth century, when it is identified as Castrum Viterbii. It was fortified in 773 by the LombardLombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
king Desiderius
Desiderius
Desiderius was the last king of the Lombard Kingdom of northern Italy...
in his vain attempt to conquer Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. When the Popes
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
switched to the Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
support, Viterbo became part of the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, but this status was to be highly contested by the Emperors in the following centuries, until in 1095 it is known it was a free comune
Medieval commune
Medieval communes in the European Middle Ages had sworn allegiances of mutual defense among the citizens of a town or city. They took many forms, and varied widely in organization and makeup. Communes are first recorded in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, thereafter becoming a widespread...
.
In a period in which the Popes had difficulties asserting their authority over Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Viterbo became their favourite residence, beginning with Pope Eugene III
Pope Eugene III
Pope Blessed Eugene III , born Bernardo da Pisa, was Pope from 1145 to 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become Pope.-Early life:...
(1145–1146) who was besieged in vain in the city walls. In 1164 Frederick Barbarossa made Viterbo the seat of his Antipope Paschal III
Antipope Paschal III
Antipope Paschal III was Antipope from 1164 to 20 September 1168.His real name was Guido of Crema. Paschal III was the second of the antipopes to challenge the reign of Pope Alexander III. In 1164, a small number of cardinals who had elected Victor IV met again to vote Paschal III as his successor...
. Three years later he gave it the title of "city" and used its militias against Rome. In 1172 Viterbo started its expansion, destroying the old city of Ferentum and conquering other lands: in this age it was a rich and prosperous comune, one of the most important of Central Italy, with a population of almost 60,000.
In 1207, Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
held a council in the cathedral, but the city was later excommunicated as favourite seat of the heretical Patari and even defeated by the Romans. In 1210, however, Viterbo managed to defeat the Emperor Otto IV
Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto IV of Brunswick was one of two rival kings of the Holy Roman Empire from 1198 on, sole king from 1208 on, and emperor from 1209 on. The only king of the Welf dynasty, he incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III and was excommunicated in 1215.-Early life:Otto was the third son of Henry the...
and was again in war against Rome.
In the thirteenth century it was ruled alternately by the tyrants of the Gatti and Di Vico families. Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
drew Viterbo to the Ghibelline side in 1240, but when the citizens expelled his turbulent German troops in 1243 he returned and besieged
Siege of Viterbo
The Siege of Viterbo was fought in 1243 between the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and the rebellious city of Viterbo, 50 km north to Rome. Frederick intervened when the Guelph party in the city expelled his garrison. The siege did not go well for the Imperial troops...
the city, but in vain. From that point Viterbo was always a loyal Guelph
Guelphs and Ghibellines
The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the split between these two parties was a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of the Italian city-states...
. Between 1257 and 1261 it was the seat of Pope Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV was Pope from 1254 until his death.Born as Rinaldo di Jenne, in Jenne , he was, on his mother's side, a member of the de' Conti di Segni family, the counts of Segni, like Pope Innocent III and Pope Gregory IX...
, who also died here. His successor Urban IV
Pope Urban IV
Pope Urban IV , born Jacques Pantaléon, was Pope, from 1261 to 1264. He was not a cardinal, and there have been several Popes since him who have not been Cardinals, including Urban V and Urban VI.-Biography:...
was elected in Viterbo.
In 1266-1268 Clement IV
Pope Clement IV
Pope Clement IV , born Gui Faucoi called in later life le Gros , was elected Pope February 5, 1265, in a conclave held at Perugia that took four months, while cardinals argued over whether to call in Charles of Anjou, the youngest brother of Louis IX of France...
chose Viterbo as the base of his ruthless fight against the Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen
The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of German kings in the High Middle Ages, lasting from 1138 to 1254. Three of these kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In 1194 the Hohenstaufens also became Kings of Sicily...
: here, from the loggia of the Papal Palace
Palazzo dei Papi di Viterbo
330px|right|thumb|The Papal Palace of Viterbo - In the background the bell-tower of the CathedralPalazzo dei Papi is a palace in Viterbo, northern Latium, Italy. It is one of the most important monuments in the city, situated alongside the Duomo di Viterbo...
, he excommunicated the army of Conradin
Conradin
Conrad , called the Younger or the Boy, but usually known by the diminutive Conradin , was the Duke of Swabia , King of Jerusalem , and King of Sicily .-Early childhood:Conradin was born in Wolfstein, Bavaria, to Conrad...
of Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
which was passing on the Via Cassia
Via Cassia
The Via Cassia was an important Roman road striking out of the Via Flaminia near the Milvian Bridge in the immediate vicinity of Rome and, passing not far from Veii traversed Etruria...
, with the prophetical motto of the "lamb who is going to the sacrifice". Other popes elected in Viterbo were Gregory X
Pope Gregory X
Pope Blessed Gregory X , born Tebaldo Visconti, was Pope from 1271 to 1276. He was elected by the papal election, 1268–1271, the longest papal election in the history of the Roman Catholic Church....
(1271) and John XXI
Pope John XXI
Pope John XXI, , born Pedro Julião Pope John XXI, , born Pedro Julião Pope John XXI, , born Pedro Julião (Latin, Petrus Iulianus (c. 1215 – May 20, 1277), a Portuguese also called Pedro Hispano (Latin, Petrus Hispanus; English, Peter of Spain), was Pope from 1276 until his death about eight...
(1276) (who died in the Papal Palace when the ceiling of the recently-built library collapsed on him while he slept), Nicholas III
Pope Nicholas III
Pope Nicholas III , born Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, Pope from November 25, 1277 to his death in 1280, was a Roman nobleman who had served under eight Popes, been made cardinal-deacon of St...
and the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Martin IV
Pope Martin IV
Pope Martin IV, born Simon de Brion held the papacy from February 21, 1281 until his death....
. The Viterbese, who did not agree with the election of a foreigner directed by the King of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
, Charles I of Anjou, invaded the cathedral where the conclave
Papal conclave
A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who then becomes the Pope during a period of vacancy in the papal office. The Pope is considered by Roman Catholics to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church...
was held, arresting two of the cardinals. They were subsequently excommunicated, and the Popes avoided Viterbo for 86 years.
Without the Popes, the city fell into the hands of the Di Vicos. In the fourteenth century, Giovanni di Vico
Giovanni di Vico
Giovanni di Vico was an Italian Ghibelline leader, lord of Viterbo, Vetralla, Orvieto, Narni and numerous other lands in northern Lazio and Umbria. He is the most famous member of the Prefetti di Vico family.-Biography:...
had created a seignory extending to Civitavecchia
Civitavecchia
Civitavecchia is a town and comune of the province of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located 80 kilometers west-north-west of Rome, across the Mignone river. The harbor is formed by two piers and a breakwater, on which is a lighthouse...
, Tarquinia
Tarquinia
Tarquinia, formerly Corneto and in Antiquity Tarquinii, is an ancient city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Italy.- History :Tarquinii is said to have been already a flourishing city when Demaratus of Corinth brought in Greek workmen...
, Bolsena
Bolsena
Bolsena is a town and comune of Italy, in the province of Viterbo in northern Lazio on the eastern shore of Lake Bolsena. It is 10 km north-north west of Montefiascone and 36 km north-west of Viterbo...
, Orvieto
Orvieto
Orvieto is a city and comune in Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff...
, Todi
Todi
Todi is a town and comune of the province of Perugia in central Italy. It is perched on a tall two-crested hill overlooking the east bank of the river Tiber, commanding distant views in every direction.In the 1990s, Richard S...
, Narni
Narni
Narni is an ancient hilltown and comune of Umbria, in central Italy, with 20,100 inhabitants, according to the 2003 census. At an altitude of 240 m , it overhangs a narrow gorge of the Nera River in the province of Terni. It is very close to the Geographic center of Italy...
and Amelia
Amelia
-Places:* Amelia, Umbria, a town in Italy* Amelia, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States* Amelia, Nebraska, an unincorporated community in Holt County, Nebraska, United States...
. His dominion was crushed by Cardinal Gil de Albornoz in 1354, sent by the Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
ese popes to recover the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, who built the Castle. In 1375 the city gave its keys to Francesco Di Vico, son of the previous tyrant, but thirteen years later the people killed him and assigned the city first to Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...
, and then to Giovanni di Sciarra di Vico, Francesco's cousin. But Pope Boniface IX
Pope Boniface IX
Pope Boniface IX , born Piero Tomacelli, was the second Roman Pope of the Western Schism from November 2, 1389, until October 1, 1404...
's troops drove him away in 1396 and established a firm Papal suzerainty over the city. The last Di Vico to hold power in Viterbo was Giacomo, who was defeated in 1431.
Thenceforth Viterbo became a city of secondary importance, following the vicissitudes of the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
. In the 16th century it was the birthplace of Latino Latini
Latino Latini
Latino Latini was born in Viterbo ca. 1513 and died on 21 January 1593. He was an Italian scholar and humanist of the renaissance, a member of the commission for the revision of the Corpus Juris canonici. He is known for his lifelong research into the texts of the fathers of the church and his...
. It becoming part of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1871. In 2001, School Year Abroad
School Year Abroad
School Year Abroad is an academic program which places American high school juniors, seniors, and post-graduates in 5 countries including China, Italy, France, Spain or Vietnam for a year. Students intensively learn the respective language of their country and live with a host family...
's Italy program began a school for students of Latin in Viterbo.
Coat of arms
Viterbo has two heraldic badges in its coat of arms (stemma): The Lion and the Palm Tree. The lion represents HerculesHercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
, one of the mythological founders of Viterbo. The palm tree was added sometime in the Dark Ages (4th-9th century CE) when Viterbo conquered and absorbed a neighboring town: Ferento. The letters FAUL, often surround the badges. It is unclear what they refer to. Some suggest the four legendary Etruscan nobles families, believed to be involved in the founding of the city, while others claim that they are in reference to the four hills of Viterbo.
Climate
Viterbo experiences a Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
(Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Csa).
Main sights
The main attraction of Viterbo is the Papal Palace (Palazzo dei Papi
Palazzo dei Papi di Viterbo
330px|right|thumb|The Papal Palace of Viterbo - In the background the bell-tower of the CathedralPalazzo dei Papi is a palace in Viterbo, northern Latium, Italy. It is one of the most important monuments in the city, situated alongside the Duomo di Viterbo...
), that served as a country residence and a repair in time of trouble in Rome. The columns of the palace are spolia from a Roman temple.
The second most important monument of the city is the Cathedral of S. Lorenzo
Duomo di Viterbo
Viterbo Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral, and the principal church of the city of Viterbo, Lazio, central Italy. It is the seat of the Bishop of Viterbo and is dedicated to Saint Lawrence....
. It was erected in Romanesque
Romanesque art
Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...
style by Lombard
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
architects over a temple of Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
. It was variously rebuilt from the sixteenth century on, and was heavily damaged in 1944 by Allied bombs. The notable Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
belfry is from the first half of the fourteenth century, and shows influence of Senese
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
artists. The church houses the sarcophagus of Pope John XXI
Pope John XXI
Pope John XXI, , born Pedro Julião Pope John XXI, , born Pedro Julião Pope John XXI, , born Pedro Julião (Latin, Petrus Iulianus (c. 1215 – May 20, 1277), a Portuguese also called Pedro Hispano (Latin, Petrus Hispanus; English, Peter of Spain), was Pope from 1276 until his death about eight...
and the picture Christ Blessing by Gerolamo da Cremona (1472).
Other notable monuments are:
- The Palazzo Comunale (begun 1460), Palazzo del Podestà (1264) and Palazzo della Prefettura (rebuilt 1771) on the central square Piazza del Plebiscito. The Palazzo Comunale houses a series of sixteenth century and BaroqueBaroqueThe Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
frescoes by Tarquinio Ligustri, Bartolomeo CavarozziBartolomeo CavarozziBartolomeo Cavarozzi was an Italian caravaggisti painter of the Baroque period active in Spain, alongside his master Giovanni Battista Crescenzi....
and others. - The small GothicGothic artGothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
church of Santa Maria della Salute, which has a rich portal. - The RomanesqueRomanesque artRomanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...
Chiesa del Gesù (eleventh century). Here the sons of Simon de MontfortSimon de Montfort, 5th Earl of LeicesterSimon IV de Montfort, Seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, 5th Earl of Leicester , also known as Simon de Montfort the elder, was a French nobleman who took part in the Fourth Crusade and was a prominent leader of the Albigensian Crusade...
stabbed to death Henry of AlmainHenry of AlmainHenry of Almain , so called because of his father's German connections as King of the Romans , was the son of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall and Isabel Marshal.As a nephew of both Henry III and Simon de Montfort, he wavered between the two at the beginning of the Barons' War, but...
, son of Richard of CornwallRichard, 1st Earl of CornwallRichard of Cornwall was Count of Poitou , 1st Earl of Cornwall and German King...
. - The Palazzo Farnese (fourteenth-fifteenth century), where Alessandro Farnese, the future Pope Paulus III, lived in his youth together with his beautiful sister, Giulia FarneseGiulia FarneseGiulia Farnese was mistress to Pope Alexander VI. She was known as Giulia la bella, meaning "Julia the beautiful", in Italian. Lorenzo Pucci described her as "most lovely to behold"...
. - The Rocca (castle).
- The Romanesque churches of Santa Maria Nuova (twelfth century), San Sisto (second half of the ninth century), and San Giovanni in Zoccoli (eleventh century).
- The Palazzo degli Alessandri in the old district, a typical patrician house of Middle Ages Viterbo.
- The Fontana Grande, begun in 1206.
- The Gothic church of San FrancescoSan Francesco, ViterboThe Basilica of St. Francis is a parish church and minor basilica in Viterbo, central Italy.-History:The church was built from 1237, on land donated by Pope Gregory IX to the Franciscan Order...
, built over a pre-existing Lombard fortress. It has a single nave with Latin cross plan. It houses the sepulchre of Pope Adrian VPope Adrian VPope Adrian V , born Ottobuono de' Fieschi, was pope in 1276.-Biography:Ottobuono belonged to a feudal family of Liguria, the Fieschi, Counts of Lavagna....
, who died in Viterbo on August 17, 1276, considered the first monument by Arnolfo di CambioArnolfo di CambioArnolfo di Cambio was an Italian architect and sculptor.-Biography:Arnolfo was born in Colle Val d'Elsa, Tuscany....
.
Sebastiano del Piombo
Sebastiano del Piombo , byname of Sebastiano Luciani, was an Italian Renaissance-Mannerist painter of the early 16th century famous for his combination of the colors of the Venetian school and the monumental forms of the Roman school.- Biography :Sebastiano del Piombo belongs to the painting school...
, Antoniazzo Romano
Antoniazzo Romano
Antoniazzo Romano, born Antonio di Benedetto Aquilo degli Aquili was an Italian Early Renaissance painter, the leading figure of the Roman school during the 15th century.-Biography:...
, Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa was an Italian Baroque painter, poet and printmaker, active in Naples, Rome and Florence. As a painter, he is best known as an "unorthodox and extravagant" and a "perpetual rebel" proto-Romantic.-Early life:...
, Antiveduto Grammatica
Antiveduto Grammatica
Antiveduto Grammatica was a proto-Baroque Italian painter, active near Rome.Grammatica was born in either Siena or Rome. According to Giovanni Baglione the artist was given the name Antiveduto because his father had a premonition that he would be soon be born during a journey between his native...
and others. The Orto Botanico dell'Università della Tuscia
Orto Botanico dell'Università della Tuscia
The Orto Botanico dell'Università della Tuscia is a natural area and botanical garden operated by Tuscia University and located at Località Bulicame, Strada S. Caterina, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy....
is a botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
operated by the university.
In the valley of the Arcione River just to west of Viterbo are a number of springs celebrated for the healing qualities of their waters, and in use since Etruscan and Roman days. In fact, the imposing ruins of a great Roman bath still are to be seen and weredrawn in plan and perspective by Renaissance masters, including Giuliano da Sangallo
Giuliano da Sangallo
Giuliano da Sangallo was an Italian sculptor, architect and military engineer active during the Italian Renaissance.He was born in Florence. His father Francesco Giamberti was a woodworker and architect, much employed by Cosimo de Medici, and his brother Antonio da Sangallo the Elder and nephew...
, Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
, and Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
. One of most famous of these thermal springs was that known as the "Bulicame", or bubbling place, whose reputation had even reached the ears of the exiled poet Dante Aligheri. Canto 14 (lines 79-81) of Dante's Inferno
Inferno (Dante)
Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. It is an allegory telling of the journey of Dante through what is largely the medieval concept of Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as...
describes how:
In silence we had reached a place where flowed
a slender watercourse out of the wood—a stream
whose redness makes me shudder still.
As from the Bulicame pours a brook whose
waters are then shared by prostitutes, so did this
stream run down across the sand.
Not far from the Bulicame whose waters, apparently, were always taken in the open, is the Bagno del Papa (Bath of the Pope). Almost totally concealed within the structure of a modern luxury spa hotel are the remains of a Renaissance bath palace that attracted the active attention of two popes. Actually, the origins of this bathing establishment go back into the Middle Ages when it was known as the Bagno della Crociata (so named after a Crusader who supposedly discovered the spring or from a corruption of the Italian word for crutch). Early 15th-century documents provide a description of the medieval bath building that covered three distinct thermal springs all under one roof.
This bath house was radically transformed by the first humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
pope of the Italian Renaissance, Nicholas V, who, c. 1454, ordered the construction of a bath palace to be built (according to Nicholas's biographer, Gianozzo Manetti) "with such magnificence and with such expense that it was not only deemed suitable for a stay and salutary for the sick but seemed an edifice destined to have rooms fit for princes and for living regally." A more precise description of just what Pope Nicholas ordered constructed is found in the wriings of the Viterbese chronicler Nicola della Tuccia, who in the 1470s described the new Bagno del Papa as a battlemented building about 30 x 20 m in size with high towers at the corners of its southern facade. Its appearance would have been more fortress than watering place. Located outside Viterbo the thermal spa would have been an easy target for roving bands of bandits had the building not assumed a militant character, one which also affirmed papal authority in this region. Aside from the regal apartments described by Manedtti there were vaulted chambers at the lowest level to accommodate the patrons of the several thermal springs.
Manetti, followed by Vasari, named the Florentine architect and sculptor Bernardo Rossellino
Bernardo Rossellino
Bernardo di Matteo del Borra Gamberelli , better known as Bernardo Rossellino, was an Italian sculptor and architect, the elder brother of the sculptor Antonio Rossellino...
as the person responsible for a series of building projects carried out throughout the papal states at the orders of Pope Nicholas and his name is usually associated with the project in Viterbo. There is, however, no reason, either through documentation or architectural style, to connect Rossellino directly with the construction of the Bagno del Papa. To the contrary, Vatican payment records from 1454, preserved in the State Archives in Rome, identify stonemason from Lombardy, named Stefano di Beltrame, as the builder who "had done or was doing in the house ordered by the pope at the bagni della Grotta and Crociata of Viterbo.".
Construction work at the Bagno del Papa was continued on through the reigns of several popes who followed Nicholas V. The Vatican account books make mention of payments "for building done at the bath palace of Viterbo" during the reigns of Calixtus III, Paul II
Pope Paul II
Pope Paul II , born Pietro Barbo, was pope from 1464 until his death in 1471.- Early life :He was born in Venice, and was a nephew of Pope Eugene IV , through his mother. His adoption of the spiritual career, after having been trained as a merchant, was prompted by his uncle's election as pope...
, and Sixtus IV. There also is strong evidence that Pope Pius II was responsible for the addition of a western wing to the building.
Travelers' descriptions, etched views, and local guidebooks chronicle the fate of the Renaissance Bagno del Papa over the years and through several rebuildings resulting in a general assumption that most of the original 15th-century structure had vanished. A guide to Viterbo from 1911 does note that some remnants were still to be detected in basement piers and vaults. In operation as a thermal hospital in 1927, the building was blown up by retreating German forces in 1944.
Despite all the rebuildings, the demolition attempt, post-war reconstruction and the latest modification as a resort destination, much of the original Bagno del Papa of Popes Nicholas V and Pius II survives, including the corner towers and the vaulted chambers where Renaissance patrons once bathed.
The Villa Lante
Villa Lante
Villa Lante at Bagnaia is a Mannerist garden of surprise near Viterbo, central Italy, attributed to Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola).The villa is known as the "Villa Lante"...
, an example of Mannerist
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
gardening, is located in the frazione of Bagnaia.
Culture
Patron saints
St. RoseRose of Viterbo
Saint Rose of Viterbo, T.O.S.F., was a virgin saint, born at Viterbo, Italy.The chronology of her life must always remain uncertain, as the Acts of her canonization, the chief historical sources, record no dates...
is the patron saint of Viterbo. The legend of Santa Rosa is that she helped to eradicate those few who supported the emperors instead of the Popes, around 1250. Saint Lawrence
Saint Lawrence
Lawrence of Rome was one of the seven deacons of ancient Rome who were martyred during the persecution of Valerian in 258.- Holy Chalice :...
is the male patron saint.
Macchina di Santa Rosa
The transport of the Macchina di Santa RosaMacchina di Santa Rosa
The Macchina of Santa Rosa is a 30 metre high tower, which is rebuilt every year in the months of July and August in honor of Saint Rose of Viterbo, the patron saint of the city of Viterbo, Italy...
takes place every year, on September 3, at 9 o'clock in the evening. The Macchina is an artistic illuminated bell-tower with an imposing height of 30 m. It weighs between 3.5 and 5 tonnes and is made of iron, wood and papier-mâché
Papier-mâché
Papier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....
. At the top of the tower, the statue of the Patron Saint is enthusiastically acclaimed by the people in the streets of the town centre, where lights are turned off for the occasion. One hundred Viterbesi men (known as the Facchini) carry the Macchina from Porta Romana through the each of the major streets of Viterbo to seven churches to be blessed, concluding with a strenuous ascension up to the Piazza di Santa Rosa, its final resting place. Each Macchina's lifespan differs, but contests are held every few years in order for a new design.
Tuscia Opera Festival
During July and August the Tuscia Opera Festival is held in Viterbo. Directors Stefano Vignati and Claudio Ferri run the administrative side of the festival which consists of offering parts in the Ensemble program and Opera Roles to Americans. Auditions are held in the Winter and Spring in places such as New York City, New York and Washington, DC. There are American staff members including Cynthia Munzer, Lisa Kay Morton and other University teachers that collaborate with Italian teachers. American students participate in Ensembles of Operas, Master Classes and classes.Transportation
Rome Viterbo AirportRome Viterbo Airport
Rome Viterbo Airport Rome Viterbo Airport Rome Viterbo Airport (Italian: Aeroporto di Roma-Viterbo is a proposed re-use of Viterbo Air Force Base, a civilian, commercial and military airport about 80 kilometers north of Rome, Italy....
was opened in 1936 as part of Viterbo Air Force Base, located 3 km from the town. On November 26, 2007, Italian transport minister Alessandro Bianchi announced that Viterbo had been chosen as the site of the next Airport in Lazio to serve Rome, over Latina, Frosinone
Frosinone
Frosinone is a town and comune in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the Province of Frosinone. It is located about 75 km south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples Autostrada A1...
, and Guidonia
Guidonia Montecelio
Guidonia Montecelio is a town and comune in the province of Rome, Lazio, central Italy.- Geography :The community of Guidonia Montecelio lies to the north-east of Rome, some kilometres from the Grande Raccordo Anulare - a ring-shaped motorway which forms a circle around the capital...
.
Sources
- Charles R. Mack, "The Bath Palace of Nicholas V at Viterbo", in An Archiectural Progress in the Renaissance and the Baroque: Sojourns In and Out of Italy, Papers in Art History VIII, Pennsylvania State University, Vol. I, 1992, 45-63.
- Charles R. Mack, "The Renaissance Spa: Testing the Architectural Waters", Southeastern College Art Conference Review, XI, 3, 1988, 193-200.
- Valtieri, Simonetta, "Rinascimento a Viterbo: Bernardo Rossellino", Architettura, croniche e storia, XVII, 1972, 686-94.
External links
- Official website, including a virtual tour of the city
- ViterboLive.it
- Tuscia 360 about Viterbo, including virtual tour featuring several VR panoramas
- Viterbo Tourist Promotion
- ViterboOnline.Com
- Festa delle Ciliegie (Cherry Festival and other information)
- SYA.Org (School Year Abroad, a high-school study abroad program established in 1964, hosts an American school in Viterbo that accepts 11th- and 12th-grade applicants for one academic year.)
- Viterbo on Wikitravel
- Basket in Tuscia Basketball in Viterbo area
- Viterbo Video Guide
- Museo del Colle del Duomo (Pope palace) Pope palace, Museo del Colle del Duomo