| Viterbo, the setting for the Tuscia Opera Festival, deserves
an unhurried visit from art lovers, gastronomes and historians. Whatever the
season, or the visitor’s nationality,
this medieval/modern town and its surroundings offers interesting sites
to explore. This city of 72,000 located beneath the
Cimini hills, was an important stop on
the Pilgrims’ route to Rome
and was often described by visitors as “ the city of beautiful fountains and
beautiful women”.
The connoisseur’s visit to Viterbo must include a walk
through the mediaeval quarter of S. Pellegrino; so perfect is this
architectural ensemble that it is often used as a movie set.
Anglo-Saxons ask to see the church in Piazza del Gesù
which was the scene of the murder of Henry,
Duke of Cornwall, cousin of King Edward I. He was killed in 1272 by Guy and
Simon de Montfort to revenge the murder of their father. Other English
connections are visible in the olive oil city of Vetralla; King Henry VIII’s coat of arms flanks that of his
ambassador, Cardinal Christopher Bainbridge and Pope Julius II on the stairway of the city hall and a marble
bust of another English cardinal, Henry
Stuart, Duke of York, has a place of honor in the city council chambers.
Portuguese visitors to Viterbo always make a stop at the
black and white striped cathedral dedicated to San Lorenzo, which dates from the 13th
century with 16th-century and post-war touch-ups. Here they admire the
magnificent cosmatesque floors and the tomb of Pope John XXI, the only
Portuguese pope, who died when the floor of his room collapsed.
Mediaeval history
comes alive when one stands near the
church of Santa Maria Nuova (dating from 1000!) with its outdoor pulpit
where St Thomas Aquinas preached to the crowds.
The Papal
Palace now acts as a prestigious backdrop for the Tuscia Opera Festival’s
program . The original roof of the palace was removed during the first papal
conclave which dragged on from 1268 to 1272. In order to
force the cardinals to make a decision and elect a new pope ( Gregory X), the
cardinals were locked (cum clave
hence the word conclave) inside the palace, next the roof was removed and
then in desperation the cardinals’ food was reduced .
To fully understand the spirit of Viterbo one must
participate in the feast on 3 September in honour of the city’s patron, Santa Rosa, whose statue
crowns the entrance to the city at Porta Romana.
In most of Italy,
feasts commemorate the ancient rivalry of
different sections of the city, as in Siena’s
Palio and Pisa’s
Gioco del Ponte. The feast of S. Rosa instead, finds the populance united
to cheer on the local heroes, the facchini or Porters of S. Rosa, as
they perform their superhuman task of transporting the 30-metre high
illuminated tower honouring the saint, through the city’s darkened streets. A visit to the
sodality’s museum in S. Pellegrino
gives an idea of the task the
facchini have proudly performed since the first tower was transported in
1258.
The procession route along the Corso is also the scene
of the evening” passeggiata” when the young people crowd around the
fountain in Piazza delle Erbe while their elders take an aperitif in the
historic Caffè Schenardi.
Mary
Jane Cryan
See the itinerary of Viterbo’s fountains on www.elegantetruria.com
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