Vitorchiano

Orange Flag of the Italian Touring Club

In a spectacular position, on a tufa bank at the junction of two streams, with tall, narrow houses often equipped with external stairs that are almost poised on the rock: this is Vitorchiano, an ancient village in Tuscia, a loyal ally of Rome. This is also evidenced by the coat of arms with the inscription S.P.Q.R. and the Wolf symbol above the doors and windows.

It is worth taking a walk in the medieval quarter, between crenellated walls with 14th-century towers. Among the narrow streets, small squares open up, such as the one where the House of the Podestà and the Municipal Palace are located, with an archive inside with precious parchments dating back to the 13th century, with a refined fountain decorated with the symbols of the Evangelists in the centre. A short distance from the centre is the Church of San Nicola, which houses frescoes of the Viterbo school, including the grandiose scene of the Last Judgement and the Glory of Christ in the apse, and the Madonna of San Nicola, the oldest, which is said to protect young married couples.

On a lookout point above the village is a six-metre high statue of an enormous moai, the only one existing in the world outside Easter Island. The local stone on which Vitorchiano rests is very similar to that of the island, so much so that eleven Rapani craftsmen came with axes and sharp stones to carve a 30-ton block of peperino!