CHURCH OF THE MADONNA DEL POGGIO

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION

The Church of the Madonna del Poggio stands at the foot of the hill on which the castle stands; although it is located, compared to Soriano, on a lowland, it can nevertheless be considered placed on a hillock relative to the underlying nature that slopes downstream.
Before 1680 there was another smaller church in that place, called Santa Maria del pojarello, as we learn from the Municipal Constitutions. Initially the complex was entrusted to the Carmelite Fathers, but later it was abandoned by the same, due to the small number of members of the community. The place of worship remained unattended for years, until the population asked Pietro Altemps to intercede with Pope Alexander VII, so that he could establish a new community. The request was accepted and the church was entrusted to the Reformed Fathers of St. Francis; this was the moment when the religious complex was rebuilt and enlarged.

THE EXTERIOR

The facade, made with blocks of peperino, has a reddish-gray color. Divided into two levels by a cornice, it is characterized, below, by a wooden portal which is accessed via a small staircase, enclosed by a frame embellished with ornamental elements; at the top there is a large window surmounted by a tympanum.

THE INTERIOR

The interior consists of a single nave with five arches on each side.
On the right side of the entrance is a precious Baroque painting with St. Michael the Archangel defeating the devil.
The first chapel on the right, decorated with paintings, houses a wooden confessional. Continuing, the second arch opens, which houses at the bottom an altar flanked by columns, placed in support of an architectural composition consisting of angels, figures that also recur in the frescoes at the top adorning the spans. In the center of the niche is a large Crucifix. The next chapel preserves a further wooden confessional and a Baroque painting depicting the Dove of the Holy Spirit and Saints at the top, unfortunately the state of conservation of the work is compromised. The fourth arch is more bare than the previous ones, here a polychrome marble altar supports the statue with the Virgin Mary, behind which is a stucco cornice with a crucifix in the center; on the side of the niche there is the effigy of St. Francis of Assisi. In the fifth chapel at the back, next to the presbytery, a finely worked stucco frame encloses the painting with the Madonna enthroned with Child and Saints. The dark color of the walnut wood, used to create the balustrade that delimits the choir space from the rest of the building, stands out considerably compared to the soft colors of the architectural elements, mostly in peperino and stucco, that make up the church. A golden tabernacle stands on the altar, behind which rises the presbytery, carefully carved, with a tripartite structure: in the center, enclosed by a frame, is an ancient image, with the Virgin and Child, called Santa Maria degli Angeli. On the sides there are S. Francesco d’Assisi and S. Antonio da Padova. In the upper part of the wooden architectural façade of the presbytery is a small box, containing an image on canvas of the Eternal Father.
The fifth chapel on the left side is dominated by a wooden pulpit bearing, in the front, the image of Christ surrounded by a crown of thorns. On the wall, painted in tempera is the scene with the Coronation of the Virgin. The next niche has a marble altar with a precious golden crucifix. The upper frame protects the painting of the Madonna with Jesus in her arms who, with the cross shaft, crushes the devil in the form of a snake. The Nativity is the scene that connotes the third chapel: a glory of angels rejoices at the birth of Jesus, wrapped in a manger, surrounded by St. Joseph, Mary and characters who have come to pay homage to him. On the same side is the altar surmounted by the statue with the Virgin Queen, while in the first chapel a scene with a Franciscan subject is frescoed and a wooden confessional is placed.
The counter-façade of the church is entirely occupied by the choir, behind which a large window opens in the center of the wall, surrounded by two coats of arms.
An important part of the church is the one that is revealed behind the main altar, which is accessed through the two side doors obtained from the large wooden structure. A niche, created right at the altar, was arranged to house a splendid Madonna dressed, an eighteenth-century statue depicting the Madonna and Child, dressed in precious robes; below is the plaque with the Latin inscription: “HIC AMOR HOMINUM ME TENET DOMINUM”. A Holy Family, also wrapped in precious drapery, recalls the theme of the Nativity.
The sacristy is made up of elegant rooms.

ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

D’ARCANGELI V., Monumenti archeologici e artistici del territorio di Soriano nel Cimino e delle zone limitrofe, Soriano nel Cimino (Vt) 1967.
D’ARCANGELI V., Soriano nel Cimino nella storia e nell’arte, Viterbo 1981.
DAVID D., Soriano nel Cimino nella storia e nella leggenda, Soriano nel Cimino (Vt) 1947.
PERETTI E., Chiese ed oratori che esistono o sono esistiti in Soriano nel Cimino, appunti storici.
Soriano nel Cimino, a cura di Carivit S.p.a., autori D’ARCANGELI V., SANTOCCHI A., Viterbo 1993.
Soriano Turistica, a cura dell’Associazione “Pro-Soriano”, Soriano nel Cimino (Vt) 1970.
TARSETTI BARZELLOTTI M. A., Soriano nel Cimino, Bolsena (Vt) 1991.