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VITERBO

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 148 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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VITERBO , a See also:

city and episcopal see of the See also:province of See also:Rome, See also:Italy, 54 M. by See also:rail N.N.W. of Rome, 1073 ft. above See also:sea-level. Pop. (1901) 17,344 (See also:town), 21,258 (See also:commune). It lies on the old high road between See also:Florence and Rome, and besides the railway to Rome it has a See also:branch See also:line (25 m.) going N.E. to Attigliano, on the railway from Rome to Florence. It is picturesquely surrounded by luxuriant gardens, and enclosed by walls and towers, which date partly from the Lombard See also:period. The streets are paved with large See also:lava blocks, of which the town is also built. It has many picturesque See also:medieval towers and other edifices (the Palazzo degli See also:Alessandri is perhaps the most interesting), for which indeed it is one of the best towns in central Italy, and some elegant fountains; among the latter may be mentioned the See also:Gothic See also:Fontana Grande (1279, restored in 1424) and Fontana della Rocca by Vignola (1566). The citadel (Rocca) itself, erected by See also:Cardinal See also:Albornoz in 1345, is now a barrack. The Palazzo Patrizi is a See also:building of the See also:early See also:Renaissance in the Florentine See also:style. The See also:cathedral, a See also:fine See also:basilica, of the 12th (?) See also:century, with columns and fantastic capitals of the period, originally See also:flat-roofed and later vaulted, with 16th-century restorations, contains the See also:tomb of See also:Pope See also:John XXI., and has a Gothic campanile in See also:black and See also:white See also:stone. It is more probable that it was S. Silvestro (now Chiesa del Gesu) and not the cathedral that, in 1271, was the See also:scene of the See also:murder, on the steps of the high See also:altar, during public See also:worship, of See also:Henry, son of See also:Richard of See also:Cornwall, by See also:Guy de See also:Montfort (see See also:Dante, Inf. xii.

118). In front of the cathedral Pope See also:

Adrian IV. (See also:Nicholas Breakspear) compelled the See also:emperor See also:Frederick I. to hold his See also:stirrup as his See also:vassal. The old episcopal See also:palace with a See also:double loggia built on to it (recently restored to its See also:original See also:form) is a Gothic building of the 13th century, in which numerous conclaves have been held. The See also:church of S. See also:Rosa exhibits the embalmed See also:body of that See also:saint, a native of Viterbo, who died in her eighteenth See also:year, after working various miracles and having distinguished herself by her invectives against Frederick II. (1251), some ruins of whose palace, destroyed after his See also:death, exist. S. See also:Francesco, a Gothic church (before 1256), contains the fine Gothic tombs of Popes See also:Clement IV. and Adrian V., and has an See also:external See also:pulpit of the 15th century. The town also contains a few small Romanesque churches (S. Maria Nuova, S. See also:Andrea, S.

Giovanni in Zoccoli, S. Sisto, &c.) and several other Gothic churches. S. Maria della See also:

Cella is noteworthy among the former as having one of the earliest campanili of any See also:size in Italy (9th century). The town See also:hall, with a medieval See also:tower and a 15th-century See also:portico, contains some See also:Etruscan sarcophagi from sites in the neighbourhood, and a few See also:good paintings. At one corner of the picturesque square in front of it is a See also:Roman See also:sarcophagus with a See also:representation of the See also:hunt of See also:Meleager, with an inscription in See also:honour of the See also:fair Galiana, to win whom, it is said, a Roman See also:noble laid See also:siege to Viterbo in 1135. See also:Close.by is' the elegant Gothic See also:facade of S. Maria della Salute, in white and red See also:marble with sculptures. The Gothic cloisters of S. Maria della Verity just outside the town are strikingly beautiful. The church contains frescoes by Lorenzo da Viterbo (1469) and a fine See also:majolica See also:pavement. A mile and a See also:half to the See also:north-See also:east is the handsome early Renaissance See also:pilgrimage church of the Madonno della Quercia; the facade is adorned with three lunettes by Andrea della Robbia.

The fine wooden roof of the interior is by See also:

Antonio da See also:Sangallo the younger (1519-25). The adjoining monastery has a pleasing cloistered See also:court. A mile and a See also:quarter farther is the town of Bagnaia, with the See also:Villa Lante, still belonging to the See also:family of that name, with fine fountains and beautiful trees, ascribed to Vignola. The inhabitants of Viterbo are chiefly dependent on See also:agriculture; See also:hemp is a specialty of the See also:district, and See also:tobacco and various grains are largely grown, as well as the See also:olive and the See also:vine. There are in the vicinity numerous See also:mineral springs; the warm See also:sulphur See also:spring of Bollicame, about 2 M. off, is alluded to by Dante (Inf. xiv. 79). Viterbo is by some identified with Surrina nova, which is only mentioned in See also:inscriptions, while some See also:place it at the sulphur springs, called the Bollicame, to the See also:west of Viterbo on the line of the Via See also:Cassia, where . Roman remains exist. This might well be the site of the Roman town. Here the Via Cassia was joined by the Via Ciminia, passing east of the Lacus Ciminius, while a road branched off to See also:Ferentum. See E. Bormann in Corp.

Inscr. See also:

Lat. xi. (See also:Berlin, 1888), p. 454; H. Nissen, Italische Landeskunde (Berlin, 1902), ii. 343• The forgeries of the Dominican Annio da Viterbo (d. 1502) were directed to prove that Viterbo was the site of the Fanum Voltumnae (see, however, See also:MONTEFIASCONE). There are no archaeological remains in Viterbo itself, except a few courses of See also:masonry under the See also:bridge which connects the cathedral with the city, near the cathedral, possibly the See also:pier of an older bridge. But the site is not unreasonably considered to be See also:ancient, and the name to be derived from Velus urbs; tombs, too, have been found in the neighbourhood, and it is not an unlikely See also:assumption that here, as elsewhere, the medieval town occupies the Etruscan site. It was fortified by the Lombard See also:king See also:Desiderius (the See also:decree ascribed to him, now in the municipal palace, has See also:long been recognized as a See also:forgery of Annio). It is the centre of the territory of the " patrimony of See also:Peter," which the countess See also:Matilda of See also:Tuscany gave to the papal see in the 12th century; in the 13th century it became a favourite papal See also:residence. Popes,See also:Urban IV.

(1261), See also:

Gregory X. (1271), John XXI. (1276), Nicholas III. (1277) and See also:Martin IV. (1281) were elected here, and it was at Viterbo that See also:Alexander IV. (1261), Clement IV. (1268), Adrian V. (1276) and John XXI. (1277) died. (T.

End of Article: VITERBO

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