HOUSE OF SANTA ROSA

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION

Inside the ancient village of Vitorchiano in Via Santa Rosa, at number 5, is the gateway to what is known as the “Casa di Santa Rosa”, where the Saint, patron saint of Viterbo, lived for a short period of his life in exile from his native city. The house, which also gives its name to the street of the same name, is simple and with unimportant architectural decorations. The access door has fluted jambs and an architrave decorated with three flowers, elements also taken up in the adjacent window. In memory of the saint’s presence, above the access door, there is a small niche inscribed in a splayed and splayed peperino frame; inside which is the image of Santa Rosa in monastic robes that rises to the sky among a crowd of angels. At the bottom on a protruding ashlar the initials S. R. were painted. The window adjacent to the entrance door has jambs in fluted peperino and architrave decorated with three flowers in bas-relief and surmounted by a molding. Above this is an unrecognizable engraved coat of arms. The poor conservation conditions of the coat of arms barely distinguish a division into four parts, perhaps surmounted by a cross. The decorations with 5-petaled flowers and the quadripartite coat of arms could refer to the local noble Orsini family, but this remains a simple and vague assumption that will have to be refuted by the teachers and by direct research relating to the buildings. At the second level is a window very similar to that of the first level. On the facade of the house there are also modern peperino plates applied to the wall. On one of which is written incidentally CASA DI S. ROSA, while on the other is a commemorative dedication of the anniversary of the arrival of the Saint in Vitorchiano: A S. ROSA ON THE OCCASION 750 ANNIVERSARY THE CITIZENSHIP POSE-VITORCHIANO 2000. Vitorchiano, and more precisely, the Casa di Santa rosa offers every year the starting point for a customary cultural and naturalistic walk called “Walking on the streets of the exile of Santa Rosa” The walk created with the aim of recalling the exile of the patron saint of Viterbo started on 4 December 1250 and ended in the first days of the following January, it is an initiative that is divided into three days of trekking. These three days normally take place on the three Sundays following the feast of Santa Rosa which is celebrated on September 4th. The event, now in its ninth edition, has become part of the annual events of Tuscia. The event takes place in the name of Santa Rosa and unites the territories of Viterbo, Soriano nel Cimino and Vitorchiano, through a path of beauty among woods, springs and medieval castles. One of the three days of traking sees an appointment in Vitorchiano under the Town Hall at 8.30 am to leave in the direction of Viterbo, with a length of the route about 15 km and a travel time of about 6 hours. The route is on foot and of medium difficulty with dirt roads, mule tracks and paths in the woods. Participants are advised to go to the walk with appropriate clothing, that is, closed shoes and an adequate supply of water. This initiative, carried out by the Take Off Association of Viterbo chaired by Silvio Cappelli, is carried out with the patronage of the Municipality of Soriano nel Cimino, the Municipality of Viterbo, the Municipality of Vitorchiano, the Pro Loco di Soriano nel Cimino, the Pro Loco di Vitorchiano and the Province of Viterbo.

ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Special thanks to Dr. Andrea Presutti for scientific advice and archival photographic material provided on Vitorchiano.