Viterbo

Viterbo is known for the production of ceramic, wood and for its university. It developed during the municipal period. Viterbo is a noble town with a medieval urban plan and architecture. The quarter of San Pellegrino is a block of buildings among the best preserved in Italy. Its 13th century features were never modified. The magnificent Villa Adriana is probably the most interesting archaeological site.

The castle Montaldo di Castro is strategically situated along a road with a lot of traffic near an Etruscan bridge. It is still in a wonderful condition. The castle has four towers (defense), a precipice and a moat surrounded by rocks.

Viterbo Information

By car 

Viterbo is 90 kilometers from Rome. Take the Cassia Veientana (a.k.a. the "Cassia bis") to the very end, then follow the Via Cassia (without the "bis") further north. Alternatively, take the A1 expressway (northbound from Rome), exit at Orte and proceed along state highway 204. 

By bus 

Buses run by Cotral leave Lepanto Metro station (line A) and follow the Via Cassia or Via Aurelia bound for Civitavecchia, Fiumicino and Viterbo. For information, call Cotral: 800431784 (toll-free) 

By train 

Trains to Viterbo leave from Termini station in Rome, but it is also possible to get there using the Roma Nord line, in which case departures are from the train station at Piazzale Flaminio (Metro A). 

Accommodation 

Viterbo: 1,000 hotel rooms
Province: 4,000 hotel rooms 

Sanctuaries and churches 

Santa Maria della Quercia: tel. 0761340356 
Madonna ad Rupes a Castel Sant'Elia: tel. 0761557729 

Baths 

Viterbo Council public baths: tel. 076134776 (which puts you through to the "Azienda autonoma soggiorno e turismo", an agency in charge of tourist affairs). 

Museums and cultural institutes 

National Museum of Archaeology: tel. 0761325929 
Museum of Sacred Art: tel. 0761341124 
Civic Museum: tel. 0761348275 
Museo delle confraternite: tel. 0761345229 (visits by request) 
Museo degli ex Voto, santuario della Madonna della Quercia: tel. 0761236984 
Museo della Macchina di Santa Rosa: tel. 0761306372 

Fairs and other events 

San Rocco: 16 August (Feast Day of St Rock). 
Santa Rosa procession: 3-4 September (a construction that towers more than 30 meters in the air with an image of Saint Rose on top is borne aloft by a group of 100 men and carried through the streets of the town for around one kilometer). 
National Amateur Theater Festival: from September to December. 
Baroque festival: from 10 September to 10 October. 

Special itineraries 

Via Francigena: visitors can retrace part of the ancient pilgrimage route that crossed Europe to Rome. 
Etruscan itineraries: In an area dotted with Etruscan ruins, there are plenty of possible itineraries. 

The wines of Upper Tuscia: an historical and gastronomic tour of wine taverns and stores, with visits to producers of local wines, restaurants offering traditional fare, fishmongers with produce fresh from Lake Bolsena, farms and homestead offering farmhouse holidays, artisan workshops and stores with locally-made crafts. 

Local culinary specialty 

"Acquacotta": soup with hunks of soaked bread 

Curiosities 

The festival of Santa Rosa, patron saint of Viterbo. On 3 September, 100 men carry a towering "machine." The pinnacle of the construction rises 30 meters or more into the air and is surmounted by an image of the saint bedecked in a thousand illuminated lights.