Region: LAZIO
Province code: VT
Zip code: 01027
Phone area code: 0761
Distance from VITERBO 16 Km / 10 Miles
Elevation: 596 mt / 1961 feet
MONTEFIASCONE
This little town in the Viterbo province is at the top of a hill on the Cassian Road and looks out over Lake Bolsena. It is chiefly famous for its wine. At the beginning of the road to Orvieto is the Romanesque Church of San Flaiano, dating back to the twelfth century but radically altered since. It consists of two churches, one on top of the other. The lower church has three naves and its walls are decorated with frescoes painted between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The upper church also has three naves and contains Pope Urban IV’s throne. The façade has Gothic arches and a splendid door, and to the side is a Romanesque bell tower a vela. The Cathedral is in the upper part of the town and is a majestic sixteenth century octagonal building designed by Sammichele. The magnificent cupola was begun by Fontana in the seventeenth century and completed in the nineteenth. The crypt is attributed to Bramante. The remains of a fortress built by Pope Urban IV in the twelfth century can be seen at the top of the hill.
