Viterbo

The popes moved to Viterbo for much of the thirteenth century and the papal palace with its airy loggia survives. The election of 1268 to 1271 dragged on for nearly three years, and the exasperated citizens locked the cardinals in the palace, cut their rations to bread and water and finally removed the roof to hurry them; the word conclave, with a key, comes from this episode, and the rules for sequestering cardinals date from its aftermath. San Pellegrino is one of the best-preserved medieval quarters in Italy, with external staircases and stone arches. Thermal springs around the city have been used since Roman times.

History

The town is first recorded in the 8th century as Castrum Viterbii, fortified in 773 by the Lombard king Desiderius, and by 1095 it was a free commune; its walls were built in the 11th and 12th centuries. Popes elected here included Gregory X in 1271 and John XXI in 1276, who died in the papal palace when the ceiling of its new library fell on him as he slept (Wikipedia, Viterbo).

What to look for

• The papal palace - the loggia and the hall of the three-year conclave.
• San Pellegrino - a medieval quarter of stone arches and outside stairs.
• The thermal springs - free and paid pools in the surrounding countryside.
• The Macchina di Santa Rosa - a thirty-metre tower carried through the streets each September.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the Macchina procession falls on 3 September, when a thirty-metre lit tower is carried by a hundred men through the old town. Summer is hot.

What to expect

The Macchina is one night a year and the town fills completely for it. Some free thermal pools are basic and busy. The city is workaday outside the medieval quarter.

Nearby

Bomarzo lies northeast; Lake Bolsena is northwest.

Key facts