Places to see in ( Viterbo - Italy )
Places to see in ( Viterbo - Italy )
Viterbo is a city in central Italy. The Palazzo dei Papi, a palace with an elegant loggia, was the seat of the popes in the 13th century. Nearby is San Lorenzo Cathedral, with a Gothic bell tower, frescoes and a 15th-century baptismal font. The Colle del Duomo Museum houses archaeological artifacts and a sacred art collection. The frescoed Palazzo dei Priori, Viterbo’s city hall, is on Piazza del Plebiscito.
Viterbo is famous for the trasporto della Macchina di Santa Rosa, a procession which takes place on the evening of 3rd September, to commemorate the relocation of the body of Saint Rosa from the Church of Santa Maria del Poggio to the church of San Damiano (the Sanctuary of Santa Rosa). The Macchina di Santa Rosa is a gigantic structure, nearly 30 metres high, which is carried through the streets by a large team of strong local men. Contests are held to select designs for the Macchina, which is replaced every five years. The porters who bear the Macchina are organised in an association, the Sodalizio dei Facchini di Santa Rosa, which has its own little museum.
Apart from the churches which are dotted around Viterbo, the town's sights tend to be concentrated around two squares: Piazza del Plebiscito, the municipal heart of town, and Piazza San Lorenzo, the religious centre. The two are not far apart, and it's easy to explore central Viterbo on foot.
Located in the attractive Piazza San Lorenzo, the Palazzo dei Papi or Palazzo Papale (Papal Palace) is a striking reminder of this town's former importance. Built between 1255 and 1267 to house the popes who had sought refuge in Viterbo, its most striking feature is an elegant seven-arched loggia. The small courtyard behind these interlocking arches is also pretty, with a lion-bedecked fountain and views out towards the city walls.
Viterbo's cathedral is dedicated to one of the town's two patron saints, St Laurence (the other is Rosa, the focus for the town's biggest religious festival). The campanile shows striped Tuscan/Umbrian influences. The cathedral was badly damaged by Allied bombing in 1944, and the roof and nave were subsequently rebuilt to an earlier design. Next door, the small Museo del Colle del Duomo (Cathedral hill museum) has displays of the cathedral's relics and treasures: paintings, vestments and many reliquaries. Look out for a sixteenth-century reliquary which claims to contain the chin of St. John the Baptist (San Giovanni Battista), surely one of the most popular and widely-distributed of all saints. The museum is closed at lunchtimes.
The two connected buildings of the Palazzo dei Priori and Palazzo del Podestà dominate Piazza del Plebiscito. These have been the centre for the town's civic authorities for centuries, and can be visited by the public. The Rocca Albornoz is a fortress originally built in the fourteenth century for the Spanish Cardinal Albornoz. Today it houses the Museo Nazionale, which contains displays about Etruscan architecture (with reconstructions) and statues from the Roman town of Ferento. Closed Mondays.
( Viterbo - Italy ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Viterbo . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Viterbo - Italy
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