Vitorchiano

Vitorchiano is a municipality in the province of Viterbo, at the foot of the Cimini mountains. Vitorchiano is considered one of the most beautiful historic centers in the entire province of Viterbo and is listed among the most beautiful villages in Italy; the houses seem to be one with the spur of volcanic rock that supports them and for this reason it has been nicknamed the “Suspended Village”. Outside the walls it is possible to admire the double wall that divides the Renaissance part from the medieval one, built using the ancient Etruscan routes. Inside the village, the squares, the alleys, the buildings characterized by external stairs (profferli), the balconies and arches are wonderful and are all made of peperino, a gray and local stone. Also worth visiting are the Town Hall and the stone houses: of the Podestà, of the Rabbi, of Santa Rosa and of the Witch; and the many medieval and Renaissance churches, full of interesting works of art. In Vitorchiano there is also a Moai sculpture: this is because, in the 1980s, it was discovered that the peperino from Vitorchiano is the lava stone most similar to that used for the monoliths of Easter Island, and therefore eleven indigenous Maoris created a monolith with peperino.