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On the right side of the Town Hall, stands the quadrangular tower of the building, an emerging element of the oldest part of the town. The tower, also known as the Rocca, is located between the Town Hall and the monastery of Sant’Agnese. Erected by the Romans during the reconstruction of the city in 1233.
Info: Info point Vitorchiano – Pro loco Vitorchiano. Piazza Roma, s.n.c. Tel. 0761373739 prolocovitorchiano@gmail.com – infopointvitorchiano@gmail.com
Municipality of Vitorchiano, Tourist Office – Piazza Sant’Agnese, 16 – cap. 01030 – tel. 0761373745. www.comune.vitorchiano.vt.it, e-mail info@comune.vitorchiano.vt.it
TOWER OF THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING (Torre del Palazzo Comunale)
HISTORICAL NOTES AND DESCRIPTION
On the right side of the Palazzo Comunale, stands the quadrangular tower of the palace, built in the thirteenth century. An emerging element of the oldest part of the town, the tower also known as the Rocca, is located between the Town Hall and the monastery of Sant’Agnese. Erected by the Romans during the reconstruction of the city in 1233, in the past it will have had direct access through a door, identifiable today with the walled one at the base of the clock tower. The construction site of the entire construction probably underwent other interventions during the construction of the underlying and adjacent municipal building entrusted to “Magister Bernardum”, a Lombard master active for some time in the territory at the beginning of the sixteenth century, according to the agreements stipulated between the city authorities of Vitorchiano and the Roman institutions. For a visit to the tower, you enter through the entrance to the Town Hall. Once you enter on the left there is an elevator that leads directly to the second floor, otherwise a modern wooden and iron staircase leads directly to the upper floors. The 30-meter high tower houses five levels inside. Leaving the elevator on the second floor, a challenging climb takes us to the top floor, where a breathtaking view of Vitorchiano makes us immediately forget the hike made. The recent restoration and consolidation interventions carried out between 2005 and 2008 have made it possible to allocate the last three floors to exhibition spaces for shows and exhibitions. With this in mind of common spaces accessible to all, thanks to the will of the councilor Alessandra Scorzoso, a project was born that since January 2013 has hosted exhibitions and events in general inside the tower. The place, the absolute protagonist, makes art: “tomorrow’s memories are photographed today through the natural shades and expressions of people’s faces”. Quoting the words of Claudia Cavallo – photographer who exhibited her works here in the exhibition entitled follow the thread, she testifies to the desire to create culture and cultural baggage to be transmitted to the near future.
ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
D’Arcangeli V., Vitorchiano, in “Tuscia viterbese. I Comuni”, vol II, 1968, pp. 473-476.
Vitorchiano, il passato presente, edition edited by Fiorenzo Mascagna, historical research by Elide Vagnozzi, Stampa Arti Grafiche Artigiane 2005.
Special thanks to Dr. Andrea Presutti for scientific advice and archival photographic material provided on Vitorchiano.
– Vitorchiano com’era Facebook page for collecting old photos of the beautiful village of Vitorchiano, in the province of Viterbo. Images of the country, its inhabitants and its traditions.
