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Hotel Viterbo

Sanctuary of Saint Rosa

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Long ago this sanctuary was a little church dedicated to Saint Maria of the Rose, built in 1215 along with the adjacent convent. Rosa was born in 1233 in the area of the monastery and legend narrates that at the age of only 10 years old she helped to organize the people’s resistance against the imperial army of Federico II; she was exiled from the city and died at the very young age of 18. Seven years later her mummified body was found and her body was brought to the monastery named after her.
Today her corpse is conserved on the church in a precious metal urn, a work of art designed by the goldsmith G. Giardini (1699), found on the second altar on the right of the church.
The church and convent of Saint Rosa were completely redone in 1453, following a fire, with frescoes of the episodes of the life of the saint by B.Gozzoli, unfortunately lost years later when other restorations were done in 1849.
The present church has a neoclassic façade and a square floor plan with a large cupola surrounded by four smaller cupolas and contains works from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Going past the cloister, 1600’s, you enter the antique monastery which holds works from the 16th and 17th centuries and nearby one can also visit the house of the Saint.
Every year, on the third of September, a commemoration, involving the entire city and many tourists, is held. The celebration includes the transport of a structure called “la Macchina of Saint Rosa” – 30 meters high and weighing 5 tons, on the shoulders of 100 attendants along a route through Viterbo, concluding at the church of Saint Rose.