Montefiascone is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' of the

province of Viterbo Viterbo ( it, provincia di Viterbo) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo. Geography Viterbo is the most northerly of the provinces of Lazio. It is bordered to the south by the Metropolitan City of Rome C ...

, in

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, central Italy. It stands on a hill on the southeast side of

Lake Bolsena Lake Bolsena ( it, Lago di Bolsena) is a lake of volcanic origin in the northern part of the province of Viterbo called ''Alto Lazio'' ("Upper Latium") or ''Tuscia'' in central Italy. It is the largest volcanic lake in Europe. Roman historic ...

, about north of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

History

The name of the city derives from that of the

Falisci Falisci ( grc, Φαλίσκοι, ''Phaliskoi'') is the ancient Roman exonym for an Italic tribe who lived in what is now northern Lazio, on the Etruscan side of the Tiber River. They spoke an Italic language, Faliscan, closely akin to Latin. O ...

(''Mons Faliscorum'', "Mountain of the Falisci"). Later, it was controlled by the

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

s. It was suggested that Montefiascone occupies the site of the Etruscan Temple called

Fanum Voltumnae The (‘shrine of Voltumna’) was the chief sanctuary of the Etruscans; ''fanum'' means a sacred place, a much broader notion than a single temple. Numerous sources refer to a league of the "Twelve Peoples" ('' lucumonies'') of Etruria, formed ...

, at which the representatives of the twelve chief cities of

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscan civiliza ...

met in the days of their independence. Under the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

, the festival was held near

Volsinii Volsinii or Vulsinii ( Etruscan: Velzna or Velusna; Greek: Ouolsinioi, ; ), is the name of two ancient cities of Etruria, one situated on the shore of Lacus Volsiniensis (modern Lago di Bolsena), and the other on the Via Clodia, between Clusium ...

The first documents mentioning Montefiascone are from 853 CE, when it belonged to the bishop of Tuscania. In 1058 and 1074 the Popes

Stephen IX Pope Stephen IX ( la, Stephanus, christened Frederick; c. 1020 – 29 March 1058) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 August 1057 to his death in 29 March 1058. He was a member of the Ardenne-Verdun family, ...

and Gregory VII, respectively, stopped here. In 1093 the fortress was besieged by Emperor Henry IV. The importance of the fortress was confirmed by Emperor

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...

's visit in 1185. In the following two centuries, as a Papal possession, Montefiascone lived its period of highest splendour. The Castle was often residence of Popes, and was consequently enlarged and embellished. During

Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon – at the time within the Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles, Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France – rather than i ...

, it was the main residence of the Papal legate

Cardinal Albornoz Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

. In 1463, however, it was already decaying, as in the words of by

Pope Pius II Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

. The decline increased after the plague of 1657 and the earthquake of 1697. It became part of the new

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

in 1870. It was damaged by two Allied bombings in May 1944.

Main sights

Montefiascone Cathedral Montefiascone Cathedral or the Basilica of Santa Margherita ( it, Duomo di Montefiascone; Basilica Cattedrale di Santa Margherita) is a former Roman Catholic cathedral in Montefiascone in the province of Viterbo, Italy, dedicated to Saint Margare ...

is one of the earliest structures by

Michele Sanmicheli Michele Sanmicheli (also spelled ''Sanmmicheli'', ''Sanmichele'' or ''Sammichele'') (1484–1559), was a Venetian architect and urban planner of Mannerist-style, among the greatest of his era. A tireless worker, he was in charge of designing bui ...

. Dedicated to Saint Margaret (''Santa Margherita''), the cathedral was a ruin in 1330 and took three centuries to rebuild. Subsequently, in 1670, it suffered a serious fire, with repairs taking a further decade. The interior was elaborately restored in 1893. * Santa Maria delle Grazie: church also by Sanmicheli. * San Flaviano: church built in 1032, repaired and enlarged in the Gothic style late in the 14th century, a curious double church of importance in the history of architecture; in its interior some 14th-century

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

es were discovered in 1896. In the crypt is the grave of a traveler who succumbed to excessive drinking of the local wine known as

Est! Est!! Est!!! Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone (also known as just Est! Est!! Est!!!) is an Italian wine region centered on the commune of Montefiascone in the province of Viterbo in Lazio. Since 1966, the white Trebbiano and Malvasia bianca-based wines produc ...

. The story is that his valet, who preceded him, wrote "est" on the doors of all the inns where good wine was to be had, and that here the inscription was thrice repeated. * Santa Maria di Montedoro: church *

Sant'Andrea Sant'Andrea is the Italian language, Italian name for List of saints named Andrew, St. Andrew, most commonly Andrew the Apostle. It may refer to: Communes in Italy *Castronuovo di Sant'Andrea, Basilicata *Cazzano Sant'Andrea, Lombardy *Mazzarrà ...

*Rocca dei Papi, formed by the remains of the old Papal summer residence. At the top of the hill it provides a view of Lago Bolsena. * Falesco winery is located there.

References

Sources

External links

Blog-y tourist information

Montefiascone Comune web site

{{Authority control Falisci Italic archaeological sites