Viterbo Cathedral

Palace of the Popes in Viterbo (Italian: Palazzo dei Papi) is a palace in Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy. It is considered to be one of the most important monuments in the city, situated alongside the Duomo di Viterbo (Viterbo Cathedral). The Papal Curia was 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. The massive façade, facing the central piazza San Lorenzo which is dominated by the Duomo, is approached by a wide staircase completed in 1267. The top of the palace walls is decorated with square merlons. On the right is a wide roofless loggia with a seven-bay arcade, supported by slender doubled columns and decorated with crests and reliefs. Within the loggia is a 15th-century fountain, made with material of various ages, sporting the coat of arms of the Gatti family. 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, which ended after the palace's roof was removed), 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. In c. 1454 Pope Nicholas V commissioned building a bath palace in Viterbo, and the construction at the Bagno del Papa was continued on through the reigns of several popes after Nicholas V. The Vatican accounts mention payments "for building done at the bath palace of Viterbo" during the reigns of Calixtus III, Paul II, and Sixtus IV. There also is evidence Pope Pius II was responsible for the addition of a western wing to the building.

Viterbo (Italian: [viˈtɛrbo] ; Viterbese: Veterbe; Medieval Latin: Viterbium) is a city and comune (municipality) in the Lazio region of Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history. It is approximately 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of GRA (Rome) on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and Monti Volsini. The historic center is surrounded by the medieval walls of Viterbo, which are still mainly intact, built during the 11th and 12th centuries. Entrance to the walled center of the city is through ancient gates. Apart from agriculture, Viterbo's main resources are pottery, peperino stone, and wood. The town is home to the Italian gold reserves, an important Academy of Fine Arts, the University of Tuscia, and the Italian Army's Aviation Command headquarters and training centre. It is located in a wide thermal area, attracting many tourists from all over central Italy.

The Fontana di San Tommaso, also known as Fontana della Morte is a medieval fountain located in a piazza located in Piazza della Morte, at the intersection of Via San Lorenzo and Via Pietra del Pesce on the western edge of historic Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy. It stands a block east of the Palazzo Farnese, and located a block south of the church of San Silvestro.

Porta Faul is a western portals in the medieval walls of Viterbo. It is located on at the start of via Faul, at the circle of the Piazza Martire delle Fosse or Foibe Istriana in Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy. In the hill in town, above the gate, is located the Palazzo dei Papi. The via Faul leads to a public parking lot outside the ZTL (limited traffic zone) of Viterbo. In a bleak stone building outside the gate, is the former Chiesa dei Giustiziati (Church of Executed) that ministered to those receiving capital punishment.

San Silvestro is a Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic parish church located at the intersection of Via dei Pellegrini #23 with Piazza del Gesu, in Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy. It is also known as Chiesa del Gesù, since it was previously administered by the Jesuits. The church is infamous for being the site of the murder of Henry of Almain (son of Richard, Earl of Cornwall) by his cousins Simon and Guy de Montfort: a murder occurring during a mass in 1271 attended by cardinals and kings.

San Carlo is a Romanesque-style, deconsecrated Roman Catholic church in the south-western edge of historic Viterbo, regio of Lazio, Italy. The church is now used as a classroom-auditorium for the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Tuscia. The adjacent cloister is used mainly for offices.

The Fontana della Piazza del Gesù is a Renaissance-style public fountain located in a piazza of the same name in the historic center of Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy. A fountain at this site, in front of the Jesuit church, now known as San Silvestro is mentioned for the first time in public documents in 1450. After centuries of litigation related to the flow of water, in the year 1727 the fountain was purchased by the Chigi family, they commissioned the repair of the tank and pipes in 1806. By 1915, it was decided to replace the fountain with a new structure made utilizing spolia from the fountain of the convent of San Domenico. A design by Giovanni Pizzichetti was selected. The lower basin is decorated with lion heads (symbol of Viterbo); while the upper basin stands on a tree decorated with alternating lion heads, oxen, horses and sheep.

The Fontana di Piano Scarano, sometimes shortened to Fontana di Piano is a medieval fountain located in a piazza located two blocks north of Porta Carmine, inside the city walls of Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy.

Santa Maria Nuova is an Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic church located on Via Baciadonne and the piazza of the same name in the historic center of Viterbo in the Region of Lazio, Italy.

San Giovanni Battista del Gonfalone (St John the Baptist of the Banner) is a Baroque architecture, Roman Catholic oratory (chapel or small church for a confraternity) located on #11 Via Cardinal La Fontaine in Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy.

Santa Maria della Salute is a small Gothic-style, deconsecrated Roman Catholic church located on Via della Pescheria in Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy. Today the church is often used as an exhibition hall and for cultural events.

The Palazzo dei Priori is a 13th-century civic palace located in Piazza del Plebiscito in central Viterbo, region of Lazio, Italy. Known in the past also as the Palazzo della Commune or Comunale, it now houses both municipal offices and the Museo dei Portici, which houses the famous altarpieces by Sebastiano del Piombo, depicting a Pietà and a Flagellation. The Palace is connected and accessible through an arch over Via Filippo Ascenzi to the former Palazzo del Governatore or Palazzo del Podesta, behind which rises a tall medieval clock tower. Its largest bell deriving from the church of Santa Maria della Verita. Across the piazza on the north end of the Palazzo dei Priori is the church of Sant'Angelo in Spatha, which has a marble replica of the Ancient Roman Sarcophagus of Bella Galiana on the facade. To the left of the palace, facing the piazza is the baroque Palazzo della Prefettura.