San Flaviano is a Romanesque style,

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in

Montefiascone Montefiascone is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, central Italy. It stands on a hill on the southeast side of Lake Bolsena, about north of Rome. History The name of the city derives from that of the Falisci (''Mons Fa ...

, in the province of

Viterbo Viterbo (; Central Italian, Viterbese: ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Lazio region of Italy, the Capital city, capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in ...

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, Italy.

History

The stone façade from has three different size arches, and is surmounted by a roofed balcony. The lower church we see today was erected on an older building in the 11th-century. The church was dedicated to the early Byzantine martyr Flaviano. The structure has a lower and upper church. The lower church has columns with capitals carved with animal and vegetable motifs. The walls and chapels contain numerous frescoes. A twelfth century fresco of

Christ Pantocrator In Christian iconography, Christ Pantocrator (, ) is a specific depiction of Christ. or , literally 'ruler of all', but usually translated as 'almighty' or 'all-powerful', is derived from one of many names of God in Judaism. The Pantokrator i ...

is found on the lower apse, above a depiction of ''Saint Flaviano martyr on horseback''. The right wall of the apse has an ''Annuciation'' (1575); the left, a ''Baptism of Christ''. In the left nave is a ''Deposition''. On the right nave is a ''Massacre of the Innocents'', a ''crucifixion'' and a ''St Sebastian''. Over the entrance vault is a ''Triumph of Death'', and on the counter-façade is a ''Life of St Catherine''. In the crypt is the grave of Giovanni Fugger, a pilgrim who died in town. His tomb has the inscription ''Est Est Est pr nim est hic Jo De Fuk do meus mortuus est'' Legend holds that his valet would let his owner know where the wine was excellent by writing Est! on the establishments with good wine. It is said Fugger died in Montefiascone because the white wine was so prized. A local wine label takes its name from such legend. The upper church interiors was partially refurbished in the 18th century under the patronage of Cardinal Pompeo Aldovrandi. He commissioned a canvas by Giuseppe Antonio Ghedini, depicting the ''Martyrdom of St Flaviano'' (1740) for one of the chapels.Rome Art Lover

References

{{Coord, 42.5409, 12.0355, type:landmark_region:IT, display=title Roman Catholic churches in Montefiascone Romanesque architecture in Lazio