HISTORICAL NOTES

TERME

“THE FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTIC OF ROMAN ARCHITECTURE, INTERIOR SPACIALITY, IS FOUND IN THE THERMAL BATHS."

VITERBO: THE CITY OF THE CONCLAVE AND THE THERMAL BATHS

During medieval times, the baths became a favourite destination for many Popes. It was with Pope Gregory IX, in 1235, that the era of papal glory began. In 1404, Pope Boniface IX accepted an invitation received from the priors of Viterbo to treat his “severe bone aches” with the thermal waters and mud.

Viterbo was the seat of the papacy for 24 years, from 1257 to 1281, thus earning itself the title of the City of Popes. Pope Alexander IV’s decision to make the capital of the Tuscia region the Papal residence is a testament to the prestige that the city had acquired at that time.

The term conclave (from the Latin cum clave) was coined in Viterbo during the longest papal election in history, which lasted 33 months and one day. In 1268, the successor of Pope Urban IV was to be elected, and the cardinals, divided into two opposing factions, were unable to agree on whether to choose an Italian or French pope. After several months, the chief magistrate of Viterbo, Corrado di Alviano, urged them to reach a decision, and was excommunicated as a result.

VITERBO: THE CITY OF THE CONCLAVE AND THE THERMAL BATHS

During medieval times, the baths became a favourite destination for many Popes. It was with Pope Gregory IX, in 1235, that the era of papal glory began. In 1404, Pope Boniface IX accepted an invitation received from the priors of Viterbo to treat his “severe bone aches” with the thermal waters and mud.

Viterbo was the seat of the papacy for 24 years, from 1257 to 1281, thus earning itself the title of the City of Popes. Pope Alexander IV’s decision to make the capital of the Tuscia region the Papal residence is a testament to the prestige that the city had acquired at that time.

The term conclave (from the Latin cum clave) was coined in Viterbo during the longest papal election in history, which lasted 33 months and one day. In 1268, the successor of Pope Urban IV was to be elected, and the cardinals, divided into two opposing factions, were unable to agree on whether to choose an Italian or French pope. After several months, the chief magistrate of Viterbo, Corrado di Alviano, urged them to reach a decision, and was excommunicated as a result.

His successor, Raniero Gatti, a member of one of the city’s most influential families, decided to take the matter into his own hands: he sealed the gates to the city, and ordered the cardinals to be shut inside the Papal Palace with the doors being locked by key (the term conclave is derived from the Latin cum clave, meaning “with key”). Faced with further stubbornness on the part of the cardinals, the people of Viterbo took extraordinary action, which this time proved to be decisive: they uncovered the roof of the Papal Palace, leaving the cardinals exposed to the sun and weather. The holes that the cardinals used to plant the curtain rods for shelter can still be seen in the floor of the palace. One of them even renounced his vows due to the unbearable conditions, just to be released from the conclave hall. At that point, it wasn’t long until the new Pope, Gregory X, was elected. And it was he who, during the Second Council of Lyons, decreed the cardinals’ strict confinement as an indispensable way of conducting papal elections, in order to avoid the delays, the attempts at external influence, and the corruption that had occurred in several cases. But the thermal baths primarily came to be known as the “Terme dei Papi” because of another pontiff: Pope Nicholas V, who was so impressed with the beneficial effect that these waters had on his ailments that, in 1450, he had a splendid palace built directly on the spot, so that he could stay there whenever needed. That building, with its crenellated walls, beautiful cross-shaped windows, and halls covered with large vaults, has since been known as “the Pope’s Bath”. Further renovations of the building were carried out at the behest of Pope Pius II. In 1989, Socrate Sensi, a businessman and knight of the order of merit for labour from Viterbo began renovating and modernising the entire municipal Spa, and opened it to the public in 1993. Ever since then, the Terme dei Papi has established an increasingly solid foothold on the thermal wellness and health market, and has even been ranked in the Top Superior Category thanks to the effectiveness of its thermal treatments. To this day, Terme dei Papi is still managed by the children and grandchildren of Socrate Sensi.

At that point, it wasn’t long until the new Pope, Gregory X, was elected. And it was he who, during the Second Council of Lyons, decreed the cardinals’ strict confinement as an indispensable way of conducting papal elections, in order to avoid the delays, the attempts at external influence, and the corruption that had occurred in several cases. But the thermal baths primarily came to be known as the “Terme dei Papi” because of another pontiff: Pope Nicholas V, who was so impressed with the beneficial effect that these waters had on his ailments that, in 1450, he had a splendid palace built directly on the spot, so that he could stay there whenever needed.

That building, with its crenellated walls, beautiful cross-shaped windows, and halls covered with large vaults, has since been known as “the Pope’s Bath”. Further renovations of the building were carried out at the behest of Pope Pius II. In 1989, Socrate Sensi, a businessman and knight of the order of merit for labour from Viterbo began renovating and modernising the entire municipal Spa, and opened it to the public in 1993. Ever since then, the Terme dei Papi has established an increasingly solid foothold on the thermal wellness and health market, and has even been ranked in the Top Superior Category thanks to the effectiveness of its thermal treatments. To this day, Terme dei Papi is still managed by the children and grandchildren of Socrate Sensi.