The church of Saints Faustino and Giovita, with its elegant late Baroque bell tower with clock, is located in one of the historic areas of Viterbo and its origins date back to the 13th century.
It is dedicated to Faustino and Giovita, two nobles from Brescia who lived n a daring manner and were martyred in the second century under the emperor Adriano (they ended up at the Colosseum but the beasts knelt at their feet).
Their worship was brought to Viterbo by the Lombards, and Saint Faustino is now considered the patron of the "singles".
The first records of the church date back to 1236 by Pope Gregory IX, when the church used a lot of energy to counter the phenomenon of heretics in Tuscia favouring their grouping together, like the case of the Augustinians of the church of the Trinity, or their involvement in the life of the city.
For years it was one of the religious but also socio-economic centres of Viterbo, to the point that in 1523 it hosted the Order of the Knights of Rhodes: a plaque and a cross of the Order on the façade recalls the story.
The knights had been driven from the island of Rhodes when the Turks arrived and Pope Clement VII granted them the fortress Albornoz of Viterbo and this church until 1527 when they then decided to settle in Malta.
At their departure, the Knights donated to the church a precious image of the Virgin and Child, the Madonna of Constantinople, which for years has been a place of pilgrimage.
Some knights are buried in the left aisle of the church and in 1655 the church enjoyed the indulgences and privileges of the order also called Gerosolimitano or Saint John of Jerusalem.
The church then had many alterations and the current late Baroque-neoclassical form dates back to the 1759 works of the architect Giuseppe Antolini.
The interior has three naves at the three entrance doors, ending with apses and are divided by pillars with round arches.
Above the entrance door, the bigger one with a neoclassical frieze, is a large window and an oculus let the light penetrate the church.
The church houses many works of art, in addition to the Madonna of Constantinople which has been celebrated for centuries. Another painting is that of the Madonna della Luce or Madonna dell'Aurora (Dawn) because it was worshiped early in the morning (at dawn) by the peasants going to the fields.
Two other works of particular effect and value are paintings by the artist Stringelli: a Massacre of the Innocentie the painting Faustino and Giovita in prison dedicated to the two saints of the church.
In the square in front of the church there is the Fountain of San Faustino from 1250, as reported in the inscriptions on the peperino stone, financed by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood so they would have access to public water.
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