The church of Santa Maria Nuova is located in the medieval heart of Viterbo and its ancient history is reported on a stele inside the church itself and on a parchment from 1080.
A priest named Biterbo with his family gives the clergy a small church with an adjoining hospital, which was then a place of rest and care for pilgrims along the Via Francigena or Via Cassia (in this section the two roads overlap).
The church was located inside the castle and the name of Santa Maria Nuova was given to distinguish it from the older one in nearby Santa Maria in Cella.
The original building was enlarged to accommodate the meetings of the governing body of the city and here the keys to the municipal coffers and city archives were kept.
Here there was also a column that was the reference for the measurement system of all citizens, an indispensable element for commercial relations.
Around the thirteenth century it was so important that it hosted St. Thomas Aquinas who came to preach in 1267 on a pulpit that can be seen outside on the left side of the facade. St. Thomas was in nearby Bolsena to settle the question of the Miracle of the Eucharist.
A miraculous episode is then linked to the church and the Feast of the Holy Savior which is still celebrated in Viterbo on the second Sunday of May.
In 1283 two peasants who were plowing their fields with oxen observed that the animals stopped in front of an underground stone box which contained a triptych. The work was in excellent condition and represented a Blessing Savior between the Madonna and St. John. On the back of this work you can then admire the paintings of St. Peter, St. Paul and a Cherub.
The clergy went to the place and then a procession was formed to bring this work to the church: from this procession the present feast was born.
From 1567 the church began its decline with the decision of Pope Pius V to aggregate it to the cathedral. Over the years the church had then been decorated in the Baroque style, also covering its precious frescoes, but a restoration in 1906 brought it back to its primitive Romanesque beauty.
The images of Garibaldi and Mazzini can only be seen on two majolica tiles on the roof. The church also has a Lombard-Romanesque cloister and a crypt.
Inside you can admire a true masterpiece of modern art: a sculpted bronze element that delimits the altar area. The work dates back to 1964 and the author Carlo Canestrari carved a wonderful scene of the Last Supper representing Jesus among the 12 apostles. In the church there are two other works by the same artist: a bronze crucifix above the altar and a Pietà in Peperino that marks the artist's tomb.
Another modern work is a terracotta that tells the discovery of the triptych and which was created by the artist Mario Vinci.
Follow us