City: Bolsena (Viterbo) - Pop. 4100 -
Alt : 350 m a.s.l. - Location: Lazio
 Description: Bolsena is a lovely town
located on the eastern shore of Lake Bolsena.
It is a holiday resort mostly preferred by
German and Dutch people.
Its origins
date back to the 3rd C bc and many Etruscan
and Roman remains bear witness its past. Of
note are the massive walls developing for 4
km around the town. Bolsena is still
preserved and offers suggesting views,
Renaissance palazzos, but also steep climbs,
narrow streets, stepped alleys, passages
excavated in the rock and natural arches.
Sights and Attractions:-
Church of St. Francesco, in Romanesque style
and gothic portal. Inside are several
frescoes and a nice crucifix.
- The Castle, built in the 13th C by order
of Monaldeschi della Cervara’s Family which
dominates the hamlet and the lake offers
stunning views. Its interior, completely
restored, houses the “Museum of Lake Bolsena” with sections about
volcanology, popular traditions,
antiquities, Etruscan and Roman finds.
- Palazzo del Drago, an elegant building
dating back to the Renaissance.
- The “Collegiata di Santa Cristina”,
in Romanesque style and Renaissance façade
enriched with two Della Robbia’ s terracottas
and a 3rd C belltower with two light
windows. Inside the 3 naves interior
visitors can admire the “Cappella del Santo
Rosario” with 4th C frescos of Sienese
school and a poliptych attributed to Sano di
Pietro and Benvenuto di Giovanni. On the
left nave opens a rich Romanesque portal
through visitors have easy access to the
“Cappella del Miracolo” that preserves the
stone with the footprints of St. Cristina
and the place where the “Corpus Christi”
miracle happened. Next is the “Grotta di St.
Cristina” housing the Sarcophagus with the
body of the Saint and taking part of the
Roman catacombs •
Close to Bolsena is an archeological area
preserving a Roman settlement with several
kinds of buildings, a 1st century BC
theater, an amphitheater and some houses
with frescoes and mosaics.
Museums: The
"Museo
Territoriale del Lago di Bolsena”
houses the geological, archaeological and
naturalistic documentation from the district
of Bolsena.
Events: -
Easter: God Friday customed procession
across the city’s streets. The religious
procession starts from St. Christina’s
Basilica and after the tour come back to the
Basilica where a live representation of
Crucifixion takes place.
- June: Corpus Christi feast, traditional
religious procession across the historical
city center adorned with flower carpets and
decorations.
- July: 2nd weekend; Fish festival along the
shore of the Lake takes place a huge
barbecue with the renowned exquisite local
fish “Coregone”. The event is accompanied by
music and dancing.
- July: last week; Spectacles, music
concerts and theatrical performances.
- July 23 and 24 ; The “Misteri di Santa
Cristina”, the most well-known and
spectacular representation of the Mysteries
of the holy little girl that underwent the
martyrdom in the last persecution of the
Roman Emperor Diocleziano. Every year, the
evening of July 23 and the morning of the
next day takes place the "Mysteries", a theatrical
performance, entrusted to young actors from Bolsena dressed with customs of the Roman
period, recalling the tribulations that the
young Cristina was submitted. The stages
enliven itself of quiet and static
characters: Holy Cristina floats on the
stone in the lake, the torture of the wheel,
the prison, the torture of the furnace, the
devils, the flagellation, the destruction of
the idols, the asps, the death for the
arrows, the deposition in the sepulchre. The
evening of the 23th takes place a solemn
procession carrying the statue of the Saint.
The day after another procession take place
and more performances. The feast ends at
night (11 pm) with fireworks on the lake.
- August
15: Feast of Assumption
- August 16: San Rocco
Market day:
Tuesday
Fairs:
Last Sunday of July and the 2nd weekend of
August -
Typical products:
Anguilla, the
“Sbroscia” a characteristic soup of fish.
Neighboring towns: Bagnoregio,
Capodimonte, Castel Giorgio, Gradoli,
Grotte di Castro, Marta, Montefiascone, Orvieto, San Lorenzo Nuovo.
Lake
Bolsena: Lake Bolsena with its surface
of 114 sq. Km. and it’s max depth of 146 m
is one of the most important volcanic lakes
of Europe. Around the lake are terracings
with woods, vineyards, olive groves and it
is feed by streams and underground springs.
It is surrounded by bamboo trees, beaches
and cliffs. The lake, the largest of
volcanic origin in Italy and shiny in every
corner, is exceptionally transparent thanks
to the fact that large, pollution-generating
industries have never settled around it.
.Here you will have possibility to sailing
on comforting boats, bathing in its clear
and still unspoilt waters, tasting typical
lake’s products or accompanying the local
fishermen in the activities that, as ancient
ritual, repeat daily from a long time ago.
Several villages and small towns overlook
the lake, such as Bolsena, Marta,
Capodimonte, San Lorenzo Nuovo, Grotte di
Castro, Gradoli and Montefiascone.
Islands: Martana and Bisentina. The "Bisentina"
Island is the pearl of the lake and also of
Italy's artistic patrimony. Once a papal
summer residence, it was recently returned
to the admiring public offering guided
visits with daily departures from the Port
of Bolsena. Easy access from Bolsena by
ferry.
Sport:
The yacht club Bolsena organizes sailing
school. Sport fishermen can enjoy catching
the particularly abundant and noteworthy "coregone",
but also "persico reale" (royal perch), "persico
trota" (trout perch), "luccio" (pike), "tinca",
"carpa" (carp) , "anguilla" (eel), etc.
Restaurants (the best): Picchietto (Old town
center) - La Fornacella - Giggetto
(Terrace on the lake) – Filoni (on the
shore of the lake)
Nearest airport: Rome
international Airport (FCO) (2 hours)
Nearest train stations: Orvieto train station (18 km)
Public transportation: Bus service
www.cotralspa.it
Distances:
Florence 180 km;
Montefiascone 15;
Orvieto 18 km;
Perugia 170 km;
Pisa 250 km;
Rome
132 km;
Siena 116 km;
Viterbo 33 km.
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