Just 36km from Viterbo, at the foot of the Cimini Mountains and along the Via Flaminia, lies Civita Castellana: the village was built atop a tuff outcrop positioned between two gorges carved out over millennia by the erosion of the Treja river.
Many painters and writers have been captivated by this ancient Faliscan town, surrounded by a landscape shaped by the eruptions of the Vico volcano: Goethe, for instance, writes about it in his book “Italian Journey,” describing fissures, sheer rock faces, and ravines cut through by streams.

Civita Castellana: between legend and history

Legend has it that Civita Castellana, once known as Falerii Veteres, was founded by Halesus, born from the union of the slave Briseis and the king of Mycenae, Agamemnon. Following his father’s murder, the Greek fled until he reached the Tyrrhenian coast, from where he traveled up the Tiber river until he reached the land where he laid the city’s first stone.
Setting legends aside, historical records document the connection between Falerii Veteres and the Faliscans, dating back at least 3,000 years: the warriors of the Faliscan people fought the Romans in battle but were defeated, with more than fifteen thousand dead, and subsequently moved to the plain, where in 241 BC they founded Falerii Novi.
Little remains of this ancient civilization apart from the ruins of the Temple of Juno Curitis in the Celle area and a few references to its religious rites passed down by Ovid, who was in fact married to a Faliscan woman.
Falerii Veteres fell into obscurity until the arrival of the Lombards, who breathed new life into the village, which in the meantime took on the medieval appearance it still retains today.
Many popes took refuge here, from Clement III to Hadrian IV, up to Pope Gregory V, who changed the city’s name to Civita Castellana. The power of the Church always brought Falerii Veteres peace and tranquility, except for the conflicts between the Di Vico and Savelli families in the late Middle Ages and the double siege of 1527, attempted in vain by the Landsknechte, drawn by the city’s strategic position.

Forte Sangallo and the National Archaeological Museum of the Agro Falisco

One of the main symbols of Civita Castellana is undoubtedly the fortress, also known as Forte Sangallo: this building, unique of its kind throughout Tuscia and the Agro Falisco, towers over the rooftops of Civita Castellana’s historic center, carrying centuries of history with it.
It was Rodrigo Borgia, the future Pope Alexander VI, who in 1494 commissioned Antonio Sangallo the Elder to build the fortress at the end of the 15th century, in order to defend the papal borders. However, it was the “Warrior Pope” Julius II who reinforced the building, entrusting the project to Antonio Sangallo the Younger, who is responsible for building the fortress’s beautiful main courtyard.
In the 19th century, Forte Sangallo was turned into an elegant papal residence and hosted popes such as Clement VIII, Paul III Farnese, and Pius VIII.
One of the most fascinating areas of the fortress is the seventeen solitary confinement cells, where criminals and political prisoners were held: Forte Sangallo was not only the State Prison of the Papal States in the 18th century, but also the “Bastille of Rome” until 1870. The cells were cramped and bare, with a few wooden boards and sometimes a latrine, with only a small window breaking the isolation to which prisoners were confined. Visiting the cells, you can still read the inscriptions left by prisoners on the walls today.
Another must-see part of the fortress is the patrol walkways: walking along them, you can see the arrow slits through which soldiers once fired their arquebuses without being seen, as well as the wheeled winch mechanism that still operates the drawbridge today.
From the terraces of Forte Sangallo, interspersed with platforms where cannons were once positioned, the view is spectacular, not only over the entire Agro Falisco but especially of the fortress itself, in all its impregnable might. From here, it’s also easy to spot the artificial moat surrounding it, which each year hosts the Palio degli Anelli (Tournament of the Rings), a sort of medieval historical reenactment in which seven knights in period costume compete to capture as many rings as possible.
The highest point of Forte Sangallo is the octagonal keep: crossing the drawbridge and passing through the gate bearing the coat of arms of Julius II della Rovere, you reach the papal apartments, spread across three floors.
Having served as a papal residence, a prison, and even a shelter during the Second World War, Forte Sangallo today houses the fascinating National Archaeological Museum of the Agro Falisco. Most of the artifacts kept here come directly from the ancient lost cities of Falerii Novi and Narce. On display are pottery, funerary goods, jewelry, Attic ceramics, and votive objects: among them, a particularly notable piece is an antefix shaped like the head of Silenus, found at Narce.
Anyone visiting Forte Sangallo can choose between two tour routes, both free of charge and lasting around an hour: one leads through the National Archaeological Museum of the Agro Falisco, while the other takes visitors through the keep, the gun galleries along the walkways, the solitary confinement cells, and the panoramic terraces.

Civita Castellana and ceramics

A visit to the National Archaeological Museum of the Agro Falisco reveals how the art of ceramic-making has been part of Civita Castellana’s identity since ancient times, even though a proper manufacturing hub only emerged in the 18th century. This craft boomed in the 1960s thanks to the growth of specialized factories, skilled artisans, and technological innovations: today, Civita Castellana specializes in the production of ceramic sanitaryware, tableware, and tiles.
Inside the former Church of San Giorgio is the Casimiro Marcantoni Ceramics Museum, which essentially documents the art of ceramic-making in this Lazio village from the late 18th century to the present day, displaying, among other things, a beautiful sculptural group created by the Venetian artist Volpato, made of finely glazed earthenware.
Ceramics enthusiasts can also visit the picturesque Bottega di Mastro Cencio (Master Cencio’s Workshop): the shop is carved directly into the tuff rock and houses numerous jewelry pieces and handcrafted items that imitate Faliscan as well as medieval and Renaissance designs.
From the Ceramics Museum, you can also follow the Strada Provinciale 76, which overlooks the beautiful Forra della Madonna delle Piagge gorge: a stairway leads down into the heart of the ravine, passing the 16th-century Church of Madonna delle Piagge, which houses an ancient painting of the Virgin and Child.

The Cosmati Cathedral

Just a short walk from the Bottega di Mastro Cencio stands the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore, also known as the Cosmati Cathedral, in honor of the Roman family of marble craftsmen of the same name who worked together as a guild between the 12th and 14th centuries.
The church, built on the remains of an older structure, was commissioned in the 12th century by Pope Innocent III: the oldest parts of the building are its Eastern-influenced marble façade, with blue and gold frescoes now barely visible, the bell tower, and the crypt, which dates back as far as the 7th century. The crypt is an intimate, striking space, with vaults supported by 45 columns decorated with foliage capitals and two marble ciboria.
Inside the church, visitors can admire a 15th-century baptismal font and a 4th-century Roman sarcophagus decorated with scenes from the Old and New Testaments, on which the altar rests, as well as the organ played by Mozart on July 11, 1770, when the composer passed through Civita Castellana.
Walking along Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, you reach the central Piazza Matteotti, overlooked by the Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall), built in the 16th century and commissioned by Leo X. What captures everyone’s attention upon reaching the square, however, is the Fontana dei Draghi (Fountain of the Dragons), dating back to 1585: its name comes from the four dragon-shaped sculptures from whose jaws water flows.
Continuing along Via XII Settembre, you come to Civita Castellana’s other landmark, the Ponte Clementino (Clementine Bridge), which, with its imposing structure, rises above the gorge carved by the Rio Maggiore river. The bridge was built in 1709 at the behest of Pope Clement XI, who entrusted the project to Filippo Barigioni, also known for building the aqueduct of nearby Nepi. Today the bridge features one large central arch flanked by smaller arches on either side; in the past, however, it was far more striking, with two tiers of arches, upper and lower.

Around Civita Castellana

From Civita Castellana, you can reach a number of places of great historical and natural beauty: consider, for example, the Cascata del Picchio (Woodpecker Waterfall), set within an unspoiled landscape, or Monte Soratte, just 19km away, also known as the sacred mountain, as it has long been a place of worship since Faliscan times. The mountain, which is also a lush nature reserve, is today home to hermitages such as the 6th-century Hermitage of San Silvestro, built on the remains of a temple dedicated to Apollo, and the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, home to a deeply venerated painting of the Madonna and Child in the Agro Falisco area. Hidden within the heart of the mountain is the Monte Soratte Bunker, a network of tunnels carved into the rock that once housed the German Supreme Command during the Second World War.
Also not to be missed is a visit to the ruins of Falerii Novi, near which stands the Romanesque Church of Santa Maria di Falerii, dating back to the 12th century but now abandoned: passing through its Cosmatesque portal, visitors find themselves in a three-nave space divided by Doric columns with Corinthian capitals. Visiting the church at dawn on the day of the summer solstice, you can witness a beam of sunlight entering through a single-arched window near the apse, projecting the shape of a dove onto the walls.