This content was automatically translated. View the original text.
Church of St Mary of Paradise in Viterbo: the Cistercian cloister outside the walls
Located outside the walls of Viterbo, in the area of the ancient vico Soffiano, the Church of Santa Maria del Paradiso stands on a hill overlooking what was once called the "Valley of Hell". Its origins are uncertain: its foundation is attributed to Cardinal Raniero Capocci around 1220–1225 or to Cardinal Giovanni di Toledo, with the first certain document dating to 1268. It was first established as a Cistercian nunnery. However, its location outside the city walls proved to be a problem.
From monastery to convent, with a rebellion in between
The nuns, exposed to risks due to the building’s isolated position, were periodically moved into town, to the Church of St Fortunatus. This period of instability came to a head in 1435. In 1439, the monastery was closed by Cardinal Vitelleschi and assigned to the Franciscan Friars Minor. In the following centuries, the building changed use several times, until the reopening of the church in 1945 and the return of the Friars Minor Observant in 1960.
Today: University and history side by side
Since 1999 the convent has housed facilities of the University of Tuscia. The church is open to visitors: the interior has a single nave with a frescoed apse, and the former nuns' choir still preserves the original 13th-century Gothic ribbed vaults.
