Bomarzo has been an important religious center since the beginning of evangelization, so much so that pope Sabinian, who was pontiff between 604 and 606, should have been born in this town.
The ancient village must have had its own church since the paleo-Christian period and the first church of Santa Maria is very old and was built on remains of Etruscan origin, as can be seen from its base.
The church then underwent modifications and modernizations over the centuries starting from the 9th century.
The current form dates back to the 15th century according to Brunelleschi's style and was started by the Orsini family and completed by Giulia Farnese. The facade in peperino and plaster is characterized by a horseshoe-shaped access staircase that leads to the entrance floor of the church.
The interior has three naves divided by pillars in peperino, the classic local stone. The altar is adorned with an altarpiece representing the miracle of Sant'Anselmo who frees Bomarzo from Totila, king of the Ostrogoths who had invaded the Italian peninsula at the fall of the Roman Empire.
The body of Saint Anselm is kept under the altar and is carried in procession on the feast dedicated to him.
The two side naves end with an altar dedicated to San Sebastiano on the left and an altar dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario on the right. They are enriched by frescoes and works of art such as a canvas depicting the Virgin of the Rosary (16th century), a Majesty of the Umbrian school (15th century) and a Roman marble sarcophagus with a lid from the Carolingian era.
A beautiful 17th-century representation of Saint Anne and the Virgin Child from the Lombard school is located above the confessional. Note also a canvas of the martyrdom of San Giovanni Battista from the 16th century and one of San Carlo Borromeo.
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