VITERBO private tour: Guided Historic Walking Tour

The guided tour of Viterbo will give you the opportunity to discover the various styles of an ancient town from the Middle Ages to the elegant buildings of the papal seat.

Let’s explore this jewel of Tuscia by crossing Porta Romana gate, one of the gateways to the fortified town in medieval times and visiting the characteristic medieval district of San Pellegrino, the largest medieval historic center in Europe. Walking through the suggestive streets you will be amazed by the buildings with their natural beauty such as the Palazzo degli Alessandri or Casa Poscia and looking up elegant loggias, balconies, towers and steps offer ideas for postcard photos.

The tour continues arriving at the religious heart of Viterbo with its beautiful noble palaces such as Palazzo Farnese. In Viterbo there is a very strong devotion to Santa Rosa, patron saint of the town, with its traditions such as the Machine of Santa Rosa, an event that welcomes thousands of tourists and which has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In fact, on 3 September the Machine is carried by hand by the faithful in a triumphal procession with the statue of Santa Rosa surrounded by torches and electric lights. Discovering the history of the Saint and her sanctuary, we come to the monumental complex of Colle del Duomo which houses the Cathedral of San Lorenzo and the Palace of the Popes which was the papal residence from 1257 to 1281 and where there was the first and longest conclave of the history of the Church of Rome.

On the right of this beautiful building you can admire the Loggia of Blessings, so called because the Popes from there blessed the people, with its 7 arches with columns and a fountain. The guided tour ends with a visit to the Romanesque Cathedral of San Lorenzo, visiting it internally, with its particular Gothic-style bell tower; in this church the 8 Popes elected in Viterbo were crowned.