Anyone visiting the Tuscia region in northern Lazio will find it impossible to bypass Viterbo . The provincial capital, located around 90 kilometres north of Rome, bears the epithet Città dei Papi, the City of Popes, as it served as the seat of the Roman Curia in the 13th century. Its historic centre is enclosed by walls of tufo and peperino stone and is regarded as one of the best-preserved old towns in Italy. The district of San Pellegrino situated within it is described, according to the official tourism authority for the Lazio region and various Italian specialist portals, as the largest contiguous medieval ensemble in Europe.
San Pellegrino: Europe's largest medieval quarter
San Pellegrino lies within the old town and has, according to local guide portals covering Viterbo , preserved its 13th-century layout and building fabric to an exceptionally complete degree. Characteristic of the district are the Profferli, the external staircases with rounded arches that rise along the façades of the houses and are found here in particularly great numbers. The ground floors once housed workshops, stables and storage areas, while the living quarters on the first floor were accessible only via the external staircases. At the heart of the district lies the Piazza San Pellegrino , with its small church of the same name and the Palazzo degli Alessandri, one of the most significant examples of medieval domestic architecture in the city.
Alongside the Profferli, narrow alleyways, small courtyards and numerous tower houses define the character of the district. Historically, there were said to have been nearly two hundred towers; today around forty remain standing. Viterbo is also an important stop on the Via Francigena, the medieval pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome, which made San Pellegrino a lively resting point for travellers for centuries.
City of Popes and the Palazzo dei Papi
Between 1255 and 1266, the Palazzo dei Papi was built on a hill above the Cattedrale San Lorenzo. The occasion was the repeated relocation of the Roman Curia to Viterbo, where the popes periodically took refuge from the unrest in Rome. The most celebrated architectural detail of the palace's façade is the Loggia delle Benedizioni, an open arcade of arches with delicate stonework. Directly opposite stands the Cattedrale San Lorenzo, which grew from an earlier pieve dating to the 12th century and features a bell tower in the Tuscan Gothic style from the late 14th century.
The Palazzo dei Papi was the setting for the first conclave in church history in the formal sense: it lasted from 29 November 1268 to 1 September 1271, making it also the longest conclave ever held. It was only after the people of Viterbo had locked the cardinals inside the palace and eventually removed the roof to force them into a decision that the election of Pope Gregory X finally took place. The Sala del Conclave in the palace commemorates this historic event to this day.
From thermal springs to the Macchina di Santa Rosa
Several thermal springsrise in the area around Viterbo, exploited since the time of the Etruscans and Romans. The best known is the Bullicame to the west of the city, whose waters emerge at around 58 degrees Celsius and which takes its name from the bubbles that rise to the surface. Dante Alighieri mentions the Bullicame in the fourteenth canto of the Inferno section of his Divina Commedia. In addition to the free-of-charge bathing at the Bullicame and the Piscine Carletti, and the club-managed Terme del Bagnaccio, the Terme dei Papi offer a large paid thermal centre with a monumental outdoor piscina.
The annual highlight in Viterbo is the feast of the city's patron saint on 3 September, when the Macchina di Santa Rosa is carried through the old town after dark. According to the Italian UNESCO Commission this is an illuminated tower approximately thirty metres tall and weighing five tonnes, carried on the shoulders of more than a hundred men, the Facchini di Santa Rosa, along a route of just over one kilometre through the historic centre. The Trasporto della Macchina di Santa Rosa has been listed, according to the City of Viterbo , on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity register since December 2013, as part of the network of Italian Grandi Macchine a Spalla .
Getting There and Best Time to Visit
Viterbo is accessible from Rome by regional train and bus. The city has two railway stations: Viterbo Porta Fiorentina and Viterbo Porta Romana. Those travelling by train to Lazio will generally depart from Roma Ostiense or Roma San Pietro. By car, the journey from Rome takes around ninety minutes via the Via Cassia or the A1 motorway, exiting at Orte.
The transitional months of April, May, September and October are considered the best time to visit . Temperatures remain mild, the old town is pleasantly uncrowded, and the surrounding countryside lends itself well to exploring on foot or by bicycle. Autumn holds the added attraction of the grape harvest being under way across the Tuscia, with a wide range of wines from the region available to taste around Viterbo. The evening of 3 September, with the Trasporto della Macchina , remains the emotional highlight of the year.
