What is Viterbo known for?

Five popes elected in Viterbo between 1257 and 1281; the 1268-1271 conclave was the longest in Church history and gave the word its meaning. Five-ton thirty-meter illuminated tower carried through the streets on 3 September by a hundred Facchini, UNESCO listed since 2013. Sulfur thermal complex used since Etruscan times and rebuilt under the popes, still the largest bathing pool in central Italy.

When is the best time to visit Viterbo?

All year. Viterbo works as a year-round destination because of the thermal springs. April through June and September into October give the easiest combination of clear weather, open monuments and warm pool water. July and August push the medieval quarter into the mid-thirties; the Macchina di Santa Rosa on 3 September is the single largest event in the calendar and the streets stay packed for the night. November through March is the season for the Terme dei Papi, when the hot sulfur water steams above the cold air and the San Pellegrino quarter empties to almost no one between visits.

Viterbo is a comune in the province of Viterbo, Lazio region of Italy, about 60 kilometers from Terni.

How do I get to Viterbo?

From Terni, Viterbo is roughly 60 km by road.

Lazio · Viterbo

Viterbo

The medieval capital of the Tuscia, papal seat for five popes between 1257 and 1281 and home to the longest conclave in Church history.

Known for

CITY OF POPES
Five popes elected in Viterbo between 1257 and 1281; the 1268-1271 conclave was the longest in Church history and gave the word its meaning.
MACCHINA DI SANTA ROSA
Five-ton thirty-meter illuminated tower carried through the streets on 3 September by a hundred Facchini, UNESCO listed since 2013.
TERME DEI PAPI
Sulfur thermal complex used since Etruscan times and rebuilt under the popes, still the largest bathing pool in central Italy.

When to visit

Best · All year

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

The festa: Rosa da Viterbo, 3 September

Why come

Viterbo sits in the Tuscia, surrounded by the volcanic Cimini hills and the thermal springs the Etruscans and Romans already used. The city became the favourite papal residence under Eugene III in the twelfth century; between 1257 and 1281, five popes were elected here, and the conclave of 1268-1271 ran nearly three years, the longest in Church history. To end it, the city's people locked the cardinals inside the Palazzo dei Papi, tore the roof off, and reduced their rations.

The decisive conclave is still the reason the word means a place under lock and key. The San Pellegrino quarter is the largest continuous medieval district in central Italy, with profferli, the external stone staircases that climb to first-floor doorways. The Terme dei Papi outside the walls still draws sulfur-water bathers. On 3 September the Macchina di Santa Rosa, a thirty-meter illuminated tower weighing five tons, is carried through the streets by a hundred Facchini, a tradition listed by UNESCO since 2013.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Viterbo’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

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What to see

Palazzo dei Papi
Thirteenth-century papal palace with Gothic loggia and the Sala del Conclave, where the 1268-1271 conclave ran for nearly three years.
Quartiere San Pellegrino
Largest continuous medieval quarter in central Italy, with stone profferli staircases, towers and the Piazza San Pellegrino.
Terme dei Papi
Thermal complex outside the walls, fed by sulfur springs used since Etruscan times and named for the medieval popes.
Duomo di San Lorenzo
Romanesque cathedral adjoining the Palazzo dei Papi, on the site of an earlier temple of Hercules, with cosmatesque pavement.
Macchina di Santa Rosa
Thirty-meter illuminated tower carried each 3 September by a hundred Facchini, UNESCO Intangible Heritage since 2013.
Piazza del Plebiscito
Central square anchored by the Palazzo dei Priori and the city's two heraldic lions, the civic heart since the Renaissance.

The slow-trip planner

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Plan your trip

Living here

Population 65,949
A local hubi
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Train station in the comune
Nearest airport Rome, 2 h 7 min drive
Regional capital Roma, 1 h 33 min drive

Thermal baths in town: Bagnaccio, Tuscia Terme, Sorgenti San Cristoforo, Sorgenti dell’Asinello, Pozzo Cacciabella, Pozzo San Valentino.

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 326 m
Population: 65,949
Surface area: 406.23 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Terni

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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