One of the oldest religious traditions from Lazio returns to Viterbo on the evening of September 3, when La Macchina di Santa Rosa (Tower of Santa Rosa) is transported through the streets to commemorate the town’s patron saint.
This centuries-old Catholic procession was inscribed last December into UNESCO World Heritage List, and to celebrate this historical recognition, as well as the 350th anniversary of the procession’s “modern version” (the one employing a machine), the Macchina will be carried through a different route, which will be longer than usual.
The current Macchina, Fiore del Cielo (Flower of the Sky), has been in use since 2009; it is 28 meters high, weighs 5 tons, and is carried on the shoulders by 113 men over a distance of 1,200 meters, with several gradients and sharp climbs. The machine will be replaced with a new one next year. Every five years in fact a design competition is launched for a new Macchina.
The transport of the Macchina dates back to the transfer of the body of Saint Rose of Viterbo. In 1258, six years after her death, she was moved, as arranged by Pope Alexander IV, from the church of Santa Maria del Poggio to the church of Santa Maria delle Rose.
The procession is scheduled to begin at 9 pm and is expected to last approximately two and a half hours.
