Santa Maria del Carmine, once known as ''Santa Maria dell'Arco'' 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 located at the intersection of the Vi Flaminia with Via Ferretti in the town of

Civita Castellana Civita Castellana is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, north of Rome. Mount Soracte lies about to the south-east. History Civita Castellana was settled during the Iron Age by the Italic Falisci, who called it " Falerii". Afte ...

, province of Viterbo, region of

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 Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

The former church was named because the entrance was reached by passing under an arch. Tradition holds that this church was once used as Cathedral prior to the present Duomo of Civita Castellana. It appears to date from either the 8th or 9th centuries, with a three nave structure reflected in the façade. The columns are derived from

spolia ''Spolia'' (Latin for 'spoils'; : ''spolium'') are stones taken from an old structure and repurposed for new construction or decorative purposes. It is the result of an ancient and widespread practice (spoliation) whereby stone that has been quar ...

, and the bases are now underneath the present brick pavement, with the exception of the first and third columns on the left. The church has undergone numerous refurbishments, including a major reconstruction in the 16th century. The belltower still retains the Romanesque mullioned windows.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Carmine civita Castellana 9th-century churches in Italy Churches in the province of Viterbo Romanesque architecture in Lazio