Category: Bolsena

Bolsena to Montefiascone (by bus)

Thursday, July 20, 2023: On Thursday morning, we slept in till 7 a.m. and ate breakfast at the Agriturismo at 8:00. Then we walked down the long & winding road to the charming lakeside town of Bolsena. It was a lot easier going down in the morning than going up in yesterday’s afternoon heat. Darina promptly went to the pharmacy in Bolsena and got her prescriptions filled.

I was sending my pack ahead as part of an arrangement I had made with Bags-Free to transport my bag ALL REMAINING STAGES from Acquapendente to Rome (except two stages – from Vetralla to Capranica and then onward to Monterosi – because Bags-Free didn’t have an arrangement with any hotel in Capranica). We still walked a lot today even though we didn’t walk the stage, so I was glad I’d transported my bag. That was, UNTIL we arrived in Montefiascone.

In 1156 Pope Adrian IV ordered Bolsena to be fortified and built a castle and walls around the town. In 1295 the Monaldeschi House of Orvieto overcame the city and improved the castle, now called La Rocca Monaldeschi della Cervara. Razed and reinforced over many centuries, it now houses the municipal museum.

We checked out the bus stop location and then went to visit the Basilica of Santa Cristina. Sigeric listed Bolsena and this church as his Stage VIII, but the church’s most famous event took place nearly 300 years later. In 1263, when a priest who doubted the concept of Transubstantiation was consecrating the host, the bread 🥖 he was blessing suddenly began to drip blood onto his hands and the cloth below. In response, the following year Pope Urban IV created the Feast of Corpus Christi, now celebrated in Catholic Churches throughout the world. This miracle as well as the relics of  3rd-century martyr Saint Cristina, housed in the church for many centuries, have made Bolsena an important pilgrimage destination.

We paused to study the altar, a fine 8th-century piece, upon which, according to tradition, the Eucharistic miracle took place. The main altarpiece depicts the miracle, painted by Francesco Trevisani. Below the painting, on the altar, a 1940 gilded frame was created to hold the blood-stained stone that is supposedly a relic of the miracle. The Eucharist itself is on display in Orvieto Cathedral.

We also visited the Catacombs of Saint Christina. This was the early Christian cemetery of Bolsena, used from the end of the 3rd century to the beginning of the 5th century. The tomb of Saint Cristina, discovered in 1880, is here surrounded by a white balustrade. A large sarcophagus made from local stone holds a white marble funeral urn from the Roman period. It says: “Here Reposes the Body of the Blessed Martyr Christina.”

During the 3rd century, Saint Christina was a 11-year-old martyr who came to believe in Christ but was warned she would suffer for her faith. Christina was the daughter of a powerful magistrate, believed to be named Urbain, who wanted his daughter to be a pagan priestess. He locked her in a room full of gold and silver idols and ordered her to burn incense before them. When she felt a blaze of love in her heart for Christ and learned the Gospel, she threw all the idols out and refused to speak to her father, who then killed her servants, beat her and threw her in prison. To torture her, she was tied to an iron wheel and raked over an extreme fire. She was burned, but healed with the help of an angel. Her father tied a stone around her neck to drown her, but an angel sustained her and untied her from the rope. When she reappeared above water, her father decided she survived due to sorcery, so he vowed to execute her the next day, but he died overnight. She survived every torture carried out by the region’s governor in her father’s name. Finally another governor put her in a hot furnace for five days. When she survived that, she was finally executed by sword (from Catholic Online: Saint Christina).

Her remains were relocated and buried in this catacomb so she could repose with her fellow Christians.

We went down a double staircase into the catacombs area, unearthed in the 19th century, which was refreshingly cool but also creepy. It follows a “Christmas Tree” 🌲 layout, whereby the lateral branches, stemming from the main gallery, become smaller as they move away from the entrance. The catacombs were solely used as a cemetery for the Christian community and were never used as a refuge or hiding place during the time of persecution. In fact, the catacombs were known to everyone and were protected by Roman legislation.

At burial the body was wrapped in a linen sheet, placed in a niche in the wall or lair in the ground and then covered with quicklime. The oldest burials are those on the highest level. As needs demanded, the shaft was deepened. Next to many of the burial niches, there were often shelves and small recesses used to place oil lamps and vessels containing balsam.

After visiting the church, we walked down to the lake, wandered around the marina, and sat at Bar Porto, where I had a lemon soda and we wrote in our journals while waiting for the 12:30 bus to Montefiascone.

Arriving by bus from Bolsena, we arrived at Hotel Italia & Lombardi after 1:00. Of course my backpack, which I had arranged to have transported by Bags-Free for 30 euros, hadn’t arrived. The hotel receptionist called Riserva Montebello to find the bag was still sitting there at the Agriturismo. She then called Bags-Free and found there was some problem in the stage and the bag wouldn’t be delivered until around 5:00!! Valentina of Bags-Free sent me an email to say the driver of the stage had had a car accident and it wouldn’t be delivered until 5:30 or 6:00!

This put me over the edge. At this point I wrote to Mike and told him to look into changing my plane ticket. I could go straight to Rome and fly home. I was sick of dealing with this relentless heat and with the unreliable Bags-Free, especially for the amount of money I was paying them. I really felt I had to figure out some solution to this predicament I’d gotten myself into, but I hated the idea of abandoning Darina altogether.

Darina and I went to a shady cafe nearby where we had quite a heavy dish of pasta with sausage. We returned to the sweltering room where Darina fell asleep. I couldn’t sleep so I went down to the hotel bar and ordered a Hugo. I figured I would just drink myself into oblivion. Of course I hadn’t been able to shower because I didn’t have a change of clothes, so I just stewed in my own sweat. Finally at 5:00, Bags-Free brought my pack to the door of the bar. At long last, I was able to shower and do laundry.

Montefiascone was first mentioned in 853, though the Etruscan roots of the town suggest it is at least a millennium older. Its commanding position on the Via Francigena and proximity to Rome made it an important stronghold for the papacy. It was besieged in 1093 by Emperor Henry IV. In the 13th- and 14th-centuries, it reached its zenith as a residence for popes and Papal legates. From the 15th century onward it began unraveling; its decline was accelerated by the plague of 1657 and the earthquake of 1697. The town was also damaged in two Allied bombings in May 1944.

Darina and I walked ever upward in the shuttered & derelict town. We went into the 15th-17th century Basilica Cathedral of Santa Margherita, which has one of the largest domes in Italy. It contains the remains of the 4th-century martyr Santa Margherita of Antioch, one of the saints mentioned in the visions of Joan of Arc (for more on her, see Catholic Online: St. Margaret of Antioch). It also holds the relics of Saint Lucia Filippini, a 17th-18th century educator of girls who established 52 schools.

We walked up and up to the Rocca dei Papi (Papal Fortress) park and pilgrim viewpoint with its great view over Lake Bolsena, passing by a concert being set up in the main square. The remains of the fortified Papal summer residence were here.

For dinner we went to the delightful Momma Poppa. I had fried egg yolk with potatoes cream Pecorino fondue & fresh truffle accompanied by wine. It was only an appetizer but it was delicious and perfect after our heavy lunch. I’m a real fan of truffles after this time in Italy. Darina had Tomino cheese with dried fruits and honey, also an appetizer. The atmosphere here was very pleasant.

Steps: 15,858; Miles: 6.72. No Stage Walk today. We took the bus.

Weather (Montefiascone): High 98°, Low 71°. Sunny.

Montefiascone to Viterbo (by bus)

Friday, July 21: We had breakfast at Hotel Italia & Lombardi in Montefiasconi  and at 10:00 we checked out to take the bus to Viterbo. Darina was still following the doctor’s orders and trying to avoid the sun, and I happily went along by bus, even though I could have chosen to walk the 18km stage on my own.

We stopped at the first cafe in Viterbo, Cafe Vergnano, and ate lunch. I had a refreshing shrimp salad sandwich with a cappuccino. We were waiting until Elisabetta from the apartment gave us the okay to check in. When she finally did, we had to walk 17 minutes to the medieval part of Viterbo, which was the second largest town we’d been in after Lucca at 67,804 people.

Viterbo was once the center of Etruscan culture (9thC-4thC BC). It grew to prominence in the Middle Ages as a stop on the Via Francigena, Sigeric’s Stage VI. As an outer defense of the Papal States, Viterbo was heavily fortified against invasion and its walls are intact and visible today.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the town was a favored safe place for popes. Pope Eugenius III was besieged behind these walls in the 12th century.

The presence of the Papacy made Viterbo one of the most prominent cities of Central Italy, with a population of over 60,000. Wars and rebellions in the 14th century caused popes to avoid the town and it declined to become a mere regional capital within the Papal States.

We were able to drop our bags at Casa Medioevo, a nice apartment with two bedrooms. The place was very hot and the two fans didn’t work well at all. Elisabetta wasn’t finished cleaning so we went to Piazza Duomo, where we found the Palazzo di Papi, Papal seat for 24 years (1257-1281) whose lace-like loggia is visible to the right of the Cathedral.

We visited the bare but beautiful 12th-century Romanesque Cathedral of San Lorenzo (Duomo di Viterbo, or Cattedrale di San Lorenzo). It lacks much of the spectacular decoration with which it was originally adorned, due to an ill-advised sixteenth-century reconstruction. The cathedral was at the height of its significance during the middle and end of the 13th-century, when it and the attached Palazzo dei Papi di Viterbo was the home of the papal throne following its flight from Rome and prior to its resettlement in Avignon.

We also went to the Colle del Duomo Museum of Viterbo to see about the Etruscan ruins and to learn about the popes.

Less grand was the tiny 11th century Church of San Silvestro built on what was once the main market square.

Elisabetta finally texted us that the apartment was ready. Darina went up to shower and do laundry while I stopped at the pleasantly shaded Il Gargolo (The Gargoyle), where I stayed so long I finished two refreshing glasses of white wine. I wasn’t in any hurry to go to that oven of an apartment. I saw calamari was being served at the restaurant so I made reservations for the two of us at 7:30.During this time, both my phone and my Clutch died, and I had no way to reach Darina to have her let me into the apartment. Luckily I had my charging cable and was able to plug my phone in at the restaurant.

The apartment was in a very medieval part of the town with cute shops including ceramic shops. But of course the whole town shut down from 1:00-7:00, as every Italian town does.

I showered and did laundry and tried to relax in the room. Even though it was hot and miserable, it was worse outdoors and there was nothing to do anyway. So I napped and baked and wrote in my journal, waiting for the 7:30 relief hour when people could return to the streets.

We had a lovely dinner at Il Gargolo. I had another white wine but Darina wasn’t drinking because of her medication. I loved my fried calamari and gamberi (shrimps) and Darina enjoyed risotto with seafood.

Steps: 9,943; Miles: 4.22. No Stage Walk today. We took the bus.

Weather (Viterbo): High 92°, Low 69°. Sunny.

The Via Francigena is an ancient road and pilgrimage route that runs from Canterbury, England, through France and Switzerland, to Rome and then to Apulia, Italy, where there were ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. In around 990, Archbishop Sigeric journeyed from Canterbury to Rome and back, but only documented his itinerary on the return journey, taken in 80 stages averaging about 12 miles (20 km) a day, for a total of some 1,100 miles (1,700 km).

This is the continuing saga of our attempt to walk the stages from Lucca to Rome, which are, in total, about 255.07 miles (410.5 km). Since we had to cut out stages due to time constraints, our actual goal was to walk 211.77 miles ( 340.8 km).

Running tally (UNCHANGED): (Day 10): 99.4 /211.77 miles (159.95/340.8 km).

This post is in response to Jo’s Monday medley 2.