Before delving into the life of this old, ancient quarter of the walled city of Viterbo, you must look at its history and how it became what it is today.
According to the chronicler Francesco d’Andrea, the Farfa monks gave the land the Pianoscarano quarter now rests in to the city but held the rights to any churches built upon it in 1148. With this newly acquired land, the people of Viterbo began working on the creation of the Pianoscarano neighborhood as well as the Church of Sant’Andrea. The neighborhood construction was completed in around 1187 according to both Francesco d’Andrea and Niccolò Della Tuccia, another famous chronicler from Viterbo. The first known record of the Church of Sant’Andrea came in 1236 when the first rector was nominated to lead the clergy there. The Church itself has undergone several renovations and would soon turn into an ancient crypt by the late 15th century and soon would fall apart as time aged this majestic Church. This all changed in 1902 when Viterbo experienced a neo-medievalist cultural phenomenon and a restoration effort was sponsored to restore the Church and crypt. The church’s outerwalls were severally damaged during a bombing raid in 1944 and so a restoration effort was conducted to rebuild the Church to its former glory. Inside the Church you can see remains of the old wall, an 18th century painting by an unknown artist, a baptismal font, a section of a 16th century fresco portraying Saints Stephen and Lawrence and two staircases leading down into the crypt where a relic of Sant’Andrea can be found giving the church its name. From here we move onto the main square of Pianoscarano where we can find a very ancient fountain named the Fontana del Piano or di Pianoscarano. This fountain was built to replace a fountain destroyed by a riot in 1367 when the Pope was residing in the town. The townspeople were supposedly provoked to riot when a cardinal washed a dog in the basin of the fountain. Pope Urban V ordered the houses of those rioters to be burnt to the ground for causing such a riot. Since then, this fountain has become very important for the neighborhood and remains as a relic from the past.
This popular district within the San Pellegrino medieval quarter is less known by tourists if not for the Grape Festival, which takes place every year on the last Sunday of September. This year the Festival has been postponed for bad weather to October 15-16. During this time the neighborhood comes alive with a lot of events organised under the Festival program, among them on Sunday afternoon the Palio of the Barrels is run, a very special competition of strength involving the men of the neighbohood. This 42nd edition has been won by Gino Catarcini. Being in Viterbo, it’s impossible to exclude from the visit this characteristic and popular neighborhood with a story of its own. As far as we are concerned it was a lovely surprise!!
Article author
My name is Benjamin Agard and I am from Illinois, USA. I am studying History with a minor in Global Studies at Illinois College, Jacksonville. I am studying abroad in Viterbo for the fall semester to learn more about the Italian language, history and culture. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to pursue my passion of learning more about different cultures!
Mi chiamo Benjamin Agard e vengo dall’Illinois, USA. Sto studiando Storia con un minore in Studi Globali presso l’Illinois College, Jacksonville. Sto studiando all’estero a Viterbo per il semestre autunnale per conoscere meglio la lingua, la storia e la cultura italiana. Sono entusiasta di avere questa opportunità di perseguire la mia passione di imparare di più su culture diverse!
Photographic author
My name is Wilder Yaconelli I am from Northern California near San Francisco. I study English at cal poly Humboldt. I am studying in viterbo for two semesters because I want to become fluent in Italian language. My family is from Lazio and I hope to reconnect with them while I am here. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to work on a magazine.
Mi chiamo Wilder Yaconelli vengo dalla California del Nord vicino a San Francisco. Studio l’inglese al cal poly Humboldt. Sto studiando a Viterbo per due semestri perché voglio diventare fluente in lingua italiana. La mia famiglia è laziale e spero di riconnettermi con loro mentre sono qui. Sono entusiasta di avere questa opportunità di scrivere su una testata on line.
