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The Fontana di San Rocco in Bolsena: the water that healed the pilgrim
In Piazza San Rocco, right in the heart of the old part of Bolsena, stands a fountain bound to a legend that the people of Bolsena have passed down for centuries. According to tradition, St Roch (San Rocco) - making his way along the Via Francigena, the ancient pilgrim road to Rome - stopped here to quench his thirst and bathe a wound on his thigh. The water healed him. Ever since, the locals have regarded this spring as miraculous, and each year on 16 August a Mass is celebrated to commemorate the episode, with the blessing of the waters.
A Medici fountain
The original fountain was commissioned by Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici, the future Pope Leo X, who between 1492 and 1494 served as Legate of the Patrimony of Saint Peter and Commissioner of the castle of Bolsena. Its original Renaissance appearance - a rectangular basin with a central pillar crowned by a cup - is known to us thanks to a bas-relief carved above a doorway along Via Cavour. The fountain's present form dates to a later remodelling, though the Medici coat of arms and that of the Municipality of Bolsena have survived.
The Piazza
The square is dominated by Palazzo Cozza Caposavi, built in the mid-16th century for Cardinal Tiberio Crispo. The fountain water is still safe to drink. The 16th of August is the best day to see the square brought to life by the Feast of Saint Roch.
