Castel Sant'Elia
Encyclopedia
Castel Sant'Elia is a comune
(municipality) in the Province of Viterbo
, Latium
, central Italy
, located about 40 km north of Rome
and about 30 km southeast of Viterbo
.
. It dates to the 1120s and is built in tuff
with three portals, all sculpted with flowers, animals and monstrous figures. The interior comprises a nave and two aisles, divided by re-used ancient columns. Under the apse is the crypt
, housing the tombs of St. Anastasius and St. Nonnosus.
Nearby is the Sanctuary of Santa Maria ad Rupes, housing a tunnel with 144 steps carved by hand by a local hermit, an endeavor that took 14 years.
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
(municipality) in the Province of Viterbo
Province of Viterbo
The Province of Viterbo is a province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo. It is bordered to the north by the Province of Grosseto and Siena, by the north-east with the Province of Terni and Rieti, in the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea and south by the Province of Rome.It...
, Latium
Latium
Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...
, central Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, located about 40 km north of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and about 30 km southeast of Viterbo
Viterbo
See also Viterbo, Texas and Viterbo UniversityViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 80 driving / 80 walking kilometers north of GRA on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and...
.
Main sights
Castel Sant'Elia's main attraction is the Basilica of Sant'Elia or Sant'Anastasio, a medieval church built, according to tradition, over an ancient temple of DianaDiana (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
. It dates to the 1120s and is built in tuff
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
with three portals, all sculpted with flowers, animals and monstrous figures. The interior comprises a nave and two aisles, divided by re-used ancient columns. Under the apse is the crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
, housing the tombs of St. Anastasius and St. Nonnosus.
Nearby is the Sanctuary of Santa Maria ad Rupes, housing a tunnel with 144 steps carved by hand by a local hermit, an endeavor that took 14 years.