Viterbo Rest Day
Thursday 19th October 2023
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Moving
Hrs-Mins |
Gain |
Loss |
Min |
Max |
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Just inside the Florentina gate
The Church of the Trinita
Santuario della Modonna Liberatrice
This church is known to the people of Viterbo as the Sanctuary of the Madonna Liberatrice because it is linked to the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary which is attributed to Gregorio and Donato d'Arezzo. Thgis miraculous event came about on the 28th may 1320. As told by numerous local chroniclers, the sky above the city became so dark as to terrorise the people.Crowds of demons with crow-like bodies, noctules and eagles moved about in the darkness threatening people with the menace of hell. At the height of the fear the figure of the venerated Madonna appeared in the Saint Ann achapel of the church of the Trinata, inviting the people of Viterbo to come and pray in front of her image. The entire city gatherd at the feet of the Virgin, pleading for protection and their prayers were immediately answered. |
The Church of the Trinita viewed from the Pope's Palace
Piazza S. Pellegrino
Chiesa di S. Pellegrino
Etruscan Wall - Cathedral Hill
The large rectangular stone blocks that can be seen at the entrance to Piazza san lorenzo are the remains of the city walls of an Etruscan town, probably the city of Surna, Surrena or Sorrina. The hill, on which the cathedral is now built, was the ideal site on which to construct a new town during the Etruscan period because it was easy to defend the FAVL valley. During the Roman period it was the displacement of the people from this hill to the new town of Sorrina Nova situated at Riello not far from the Bullicame baths. |
The Museum
The Godess of Abundance
Etruscan funery top
Busto di San Sisto
1440-1450
Bust of San Sisto II - the reliquary of San Sisto II who became pope in 257 and was martyrised in 258 during the reign of Valeriano. From the church of San Sisto. Guilded metal base with round feet, richly embossed decorations on the vestments, on the start and on the tiara. |
Palazzo dei Papi
Palazzo dei Papi palace in Viterbo is one of the most important monuments in the city, situated alongside the Duomo di Viterbo (Viterbo Cathedral). The Papal Curiawas moved to Viterbo in 1257 by Alexander IV, due to the hostility of the Roman commune and constant urban violence: the former bishop's palace of Viterbo was enlarged to provide the Popes with an adequate residence. The construction, commissioned by the Capitano del popolo ("Captain of the People") Raniero Gatti, provided a great audience hall communicating with a loggia raised on a barrel vault above the city street. It was completed probably around 1266.
Viterbo remained the residence of the papacy for twenty-four years, from 1257 to 1281. After Alexander IV, the palace was the residence of Urban IV, then housed the papal election of 1268-1271 which elected Gregory X (the longest papal election in Church history), the residence of John XXI (who died in the building in 1277 when his study collapsed), and the residence again of Nicholas III and Martin IV, who moved almost immediately to Orvieto in 1281. They were all elected in the most famous hall of the palace, the Sala del Conclave so called because it was home to the first and longest conclave in history. Popes in residence were
| Alexander IV |
1254-1261 |
| Urban IV |
1261-1264 |
| Clement IV |
1265-1268 |
| Gregory X |
1271-1276 |
| Innocent V |
January-June 1276 |
| Adrian V |
July-August 1276 |
| John XXI |
September 1276 - May 1277 |
| Nicholas III |
1277-1280 |
| Martin IV |
Elected 22 February 1281 |
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One of the grand halls in the palace, known as the Conclave Hall, was the seat of the longest papal election in history. The election lasted for two years nine months, from November in 1268 to September 1, 1271, because the twenty voting cardinals were so divided by personal interests and family feuds, that they could not reach an agreement.
When Pope Clement IV died on 29 November 1268, the College of Cardinals, consisting of the Church's most senior officials, met at Viterbo to choose Pope Clement IV’s successor, because tradition dictated that the election should take place in the city where the previous pope died. The cardinals began the election by meeting and voting once a day in the Palazzo dei Papi in Viterbo, before returning to their respective residences. The College of Cardinals at that time was equally divided between the French and Italian cardinals, who each wanted a pope from their own country. The election dragged on for months. Three of the original twenty cardinals actually died of old age.
After nearly a year of indecision, frustrated by the delay, the citizens of Viterbo, under the instruction of the town captain, Ranieri Gatti, locked up the cardinals inside the palace and ordered them to come up with a name. They also removed the roof of the building leaving the cardinals under the mercy of the elements, and reduced their food supplies to mere bread and water. According to some sources, the roof was reassembled back after the cardinals threatened to put the entire city of Viterbo under interdict.
The drastic actions did absolutely nothing to break the deadlock, which dragged on for another year. Finally, in August 1271, the Cardinals decided to appoint a committee of six to negotiate a settlement. When the six could not agree on the choice of one of the cardinals, they decided to look outside their ranks. The name of Teobaldo Visconti, the Archdeacon of Liège, who at that time was raging war in Palestine, was suggested and everybody agreed. Teobaldo Visconti became Pope Gregory X on 1 September 1271.
Courtesy of https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/06/the-longest-papal-election-in-history.html |
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