🏺 **The Civic Museum of Viterbo: Time Gathered Within a Stone Palace**

In the oldest heart of Viterbo,protected by solid walls and the discreet gaze of peperino stone streets,there lies a place where time has paused — without fading away.

The Civic Museum of Viterbo is not just a container of relics.It is a collective story,told by hands that forged, sculpted, painted, and lived.

A journey that begins with the Etruscans,crosses through the Middle Ages,and arrives at the threshold of our modern gaze.

🏛️ A Palace That Breathes History

The Civic Museum is housed in the former Convent of Santa Maria della Verità,a building that, even on its own, breathes history from every stone.

Born as a place of silence and prayer,today the convent preserves quiet wonders,displayed without fanfare — like ancient kings who need no attention to be respected.

🌿 Etruscan Treasures: Earth’s Artisans

The first rooms take you back more than two thousand years,to the time of the Etruscans — those enigmatic lords of Tuscia who still look at us today through their artifacts.

• Monumental sarcophagi with reclining figures, serene and ready for eternity

• Red-figure vases depicting forgotten myths

• Funerary sets rich with mirrors, fibulae, and amulets: small gestures of love for a journey beyond life

Fun fact:One of the museum’s most famous urns depicts a banquet scene...with a tiny carved mouse hiding beneath the diners’ feet.A humble joke, perhaps — a reminder that not even the powerful escape the pranks of fate.

🕯️ Medieval Art: Faith Carved Into Time

Moving on, you enter the medieval heart of the museum.

• Painted crosses, solemn and austere, where Christ gazes at pilgrims with human sorrow

• Sculpted marble shaped by calloused yet skilled hands

• Ancient panels telling stories of forgotten saints, faith, and miracles etched in golden dust

Fun fact:Among the more peculiar pieces is a small relic —a fragment of cloth said to have belonged to Santa Rosa’s robe.Not a grand treasure, but a spark of emotion for those who know how to look beyond the glass.

🎨 A Journey That Never Ends

The beauty of the Civic Museum of Viterbo lies here:it doesn’t try to overwhelm you.It doesn’t shout —it whispers.

It whispers stories of ancient peoples,of hands faithfully smoothed by stone,of eyes that have loved, hoped, and wept.

It’s a museum to experience slowly,like a respectful conversation between travelers separated by centuries.

🛶 Practical Sheet – Visiting the Civic Museum of Viterbo

📍 Location:Piazza Crispi, Viterbo(former Convent of Santa Maria della Verità)

🗓️ When to visit:Open year-roundHours typically 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM (check the official website or city information)

🎟️ Tickets:Symbolic price: around €5Discounts available for students, groups, over 65s

🚶‍♂️ Practical tips:

• Take your time — each room deserves it

• Don’t miss the Etruscan section: one of the most fascinating in Lazio

• Bring a camera — details are everything here