Diocese of Viterbo and Toscanella

The city of Viterbo in the Province of Rome stands at the foot of Monte Cimino, in Central Italy, in an agricultural region. It has to a great degree preserved its medieval character, more particularly in its encircling walls, which are still in good preservation. The most ancient building in the city, the cathedral, dedicated to St. Lawrence, was altered in the twelfth and the sixteenth centuries. The capitals of the columns, the two monuments of John XXI, and some frescoes and framed pictures are worthy of note. On the cathedral square stands the episcopal palace, decorated with fine sculpture of the thirteenth century; here were held the conclaves of Gregory X (1271-73), John XXI (1276), and Martin IV (1282). The former Servite church of the Verita is now a museum in which is preserved a fresco of Lorenzo da Viterbo representing the "Espousals of the Blessed Virgin". The adjoining convent is occupied by the Technical Institute. In the Church of S. Francesco are a Madonna by Sebastiano del Piombo, and the tombs of Adrian V, by Vassalletto, and of Clement IV, by Pietro d'Oderiso. The Church of S. Sisto is remarkable for the great height of the sanctuary about the bulk of the nave; in this church Henry, son of Richard of Cornwall, was slain by Simon and Guy de Montfort in 1271. S. Maria della Salute is remarkable for its graceful doorway. The Madonna della Quercia, with its annexed Dominican convent, is of elegant Renaissance architecture; in the lunette of the doorways of the fa?ade are examples of majolica by Luca and Agostino della Robbia. The richly gilded ceiling is by Antonio da Sangallo; the tabernacle by Andrea Bregno. In the Church of S. Rosa is preserved the mummified body of the saint; on her feast day (4 September) her statue, enshrined in a large tempietto decorated with lanterns, is borne aloft by sixteen men. S. Maria dei Gradi, of which the church still remains, was one of the earliest convents of the Dominicans and is even now a house of retreat. S. Juliana de Marescotti is buried in the Church of S. Maria della Pace. +