Things to Do and See in Viterbo

Art, history, culture, nature, wellness, folklore, shopping, and fine dining. All this can be found in Viterbo, the capital of the province of the same name. Better known as the “City of the Popes,” Viterbo and its surroundings offer a journey spanning millennia, beginning in the 6th century B.C.—the period to which the Etruscan rock-cut necropolis of Castel d’Asso dates—and extending to the Renaissance Villa Lante, named in 2011 “Most Beautiful Park in Italy,” passing through the medieval neighborhoods of the historic center, which are accessed through the various gates in the imposing city walls. In the central Piazza di S. Lorenzo stand the Cathedral and the Palazzo dei Papi, built as the popes’ residence beginning in 1255 and remembered as the site of the longest conclave in history. Another central square is Piazza del Plebiscito, featuring the Palazzo dei Priori, considered the social and institutional heart of the city, which is connected via the Art Gallery to the medieval Palazzo del Podestà. Elsewhere in the province, we recommend a visit to the town of Tuscanica, which boasts an extraordinary Etruscan heritage with the discovery of necropolises, and to the village of Bagnaia with its famous Villa Lante, a splendid example of a late Renaissance residence. No stay in the Viterbo area would be complete without a visit to the Terme dei Papi for a rejuvenating soak in its warm, therapeutic sulfur waters or in the numerous natural springs scattered throughout the countryside surrounding the city.