What is Montefiascone known for?

DOC white wine since 1966, named for the twelfth-century legend of a German bishop's prelate marking inn doors with the word Est. Papal summer fortress on the highest hill of the Volsini, with a tower view across all of Lake Bolsena. Largest volcanic lake in Europe at 114 square kilometers, occupying the crater two hundred meters below the town.

Where is Montefiascone?

Montefiascone is a comune in the province of Viterbo, Lazio region of Italy, about 72 kilometers from Terni.

Lazio · Viterbo

Montefiascone

A 590-meter hill town on the southeastern rim of Lake Bolsena, the source of Est! Est!! Est!!! and a Via Francigena stop.

590m

Elevation

72 km / 45 mi

Nearest hub (Terni)

12,955

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Via Francigena

Why come

Montefiascone stands at 590 meters on the highest hill of the Volsini range, on the southeastern rim of the Lake Bolsena crater, about a hundred kilometers north of Rome. The Rocca dei Papi at the top was a papal summer residence from the thirteenth century; from its tower you see the full circle of Lake Bolsena below, the largest volcanic lake in Europe. Down the hill, the Basilica di San Flaviano is one of the strangest churches in Lazio: two superimposed Romanesque-Gothic naves, the lower one twelfth century, the upper fourteenth, with fourteenth-century frescoes still on the walls. The town gave its name to Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone DOC, the white wine whose legend has a twelfth-century German bishop's prelate marking inn doors with the word Est wherever the wine was good, and writing it three times here. Montefiascone is also a recognized stop on the Via Francigena between Bolsena and Viterbo.

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Gallery

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Known for

Rocca dei Papi
Medieval papal summer residence on the highest point of town, with a panoramic tower over Lake Bolsena.
Basilica di San Flaviano
Romanesque-Gothic double-nave church just outside the walls, twelfth and fourteenth centuries, with original frescoes and the tomb of the German bishop Johannes Defuk.
Cattedrale di Santa Margherita
Renaissance cathedral with a 27-meter octagonal dome, the third largest in Italy by base diameter, completed in the late sixteenth century.
Belvedere su Lago di Bolsena
Northern viewpoint over the 114-square-kilometer crater lake, the largest volcanic lake in Europe.
Via Francigena stage
Recognized pilgrim stop on the route from Canterbury to Rome, between Bolsena and Viterbo, with a credentialed pilgrim hostel.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September through October are the strong months. The hilltop position keeps Montefiascone cooler than Viterbo down the road, and the air over the lake is clearest in spring and autumn. July and August reach the low thirties; afternoons in the centro storico thin out between two and five. November through March is quiet. The Via Francigena traffic continues year-round but slows in winter. The Fiera del Vino each August is the main festa, when the cantine open along Via Cassia and Est! Est!! Est!!! becomes the spine of the town's economy for the week.