The city of Bolsena, known not only for its lake but also for the miracle it is linked to, is located a few kilometers from the city of Civita di Bagnoregio.
Lake Bolsena (or Volsinio) is a central Italian lake, in the Upper Lazio, in the province of Viterbo; it was formed over 300,000 years ago following the collapse of some volcanoes in the Volsini mountains located a few kilometers from Mount Amiata, and is the largest volcanic lake in Europe.
Islands:
Island Bisentina
The Bisentina island is the largest in the lake and belongs to the municipality of Capodimonte (about 3 Km away). It changes its name from the Etruscan-Roman city of Bisenzio that was in front of the island on the south-west coast of the lake and preserves important historical and artistic testimonies.
Many Popes visited it during their summer breaks and it was owned by the Farnese family.
Island Martana
It is located in front of the inhabited center of Marta, from which it takes its name, and is the smallest of the two islands in the lake.
It would have guarded the remains of Saint Cristina, so that they did not fall prey to the barbarians.
The Martana Island was also at the center of a tragic historical event: Amalasunta, queen of the Goths, who took power after the death of Theodoric, after being taken to the island with trickery, was murdered by her cousin Theodatus on April 30, 535. In the eastern part of the island, a plaque has been placed in her memory.
The island was once the site of an Augustinian convent. It is currently private property and therefore cannot be visited. However, it can be seen from the lake with a boat that departs from the port of Capodimonte and the port of Bolsena.
The Marta River
From the inhabited center of Marta, the river begins its journey towards the Tyrrhenian Sea. After passing through Marta, Tuscania, and Tarquinia, it meets the sea. Here, a beautiful area is located between the mouth of the Marta River and that of the Mignone River, the “Tarquinia Animal Population Nature Reserve” has been created. The flow of the river is regulated by “nozzles” of a dam, capable of regulating the flow of water that enters the river from the lake.
Lake Bolsena towns
The towns facing the lake are:
Bolsena to the northeast;
Montefiascone to the southeast;
Marta to the southwest;
Capodimonte to the southwest;
Valentano to the west;
Gradoli to the northwest;
Grotte di Castro to the northwest;
San Lorenzo Nuovo to the north.
Latera, although it doesn’t face the lake directly, it has scenic views of the lake from the Passo della Montagnola and the Cantoniera location.
Territorial Museum:
The museum is located in the Castle of Bolsena, inside the Rocca dei Monaldeschi della Cervara and was inaugurated on May 5, 1991.
The museum has various sections that present a thread of human development and territory, through the analysis of historical phases prior to the Etruscan-Roman period, then continuing in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance on local customs, traditions and usage.
Then the Lake of Bolsena, the largest volcanic lake in Europe, is illustrated with a description of the ecosystem, wildlife, flora, and ancient and modern fishing activities. It has been part of the Regional Museum Organization since its opening (O.M.R.) and has also been awarded by the Lazio Region for the Quality Mark Award.
Since 2000, the Municipality of Bolsena has been the head of the Bolsena Lake Museum System.
Historical Facts:
The city of Bolsena is famous not only for the lake but also for the Eucharistic miracle to which it is linked: the Eucharistic miracle of Bolsena would have occurred in 1263: while a priest was celebrating Mass, at the moment of consecration, the host would have bled.
One of the oldest narratives is contained in the Chronica (III, tit. 19, cap. 13) of St. Antonino of Florence, a Dominican friar and Archbishop of Florence (1459), who also gave an account of the Eucharistic miracle of Paris in 1290. The latter is similar to the account of the New Chronicle by Giovanni Villani.
In the summer of 1263, a Bohemian priest named Peter from Prague began to doubt the real presence of Jesus in the consecrated host and wine. The priest then went on pilgrimage to Rome to pray at the tomb of Peter to erase his doubts: the stay calmed him down and he undertook the return journey.
While traveling along the Cassia road, he stopped at Bolsena, where his faith doubts attacked him again. The next day he celebrated Mass in the Grotta di Santa Cristina (an event immortalized by Raphael in 1512 in the famous fresco of the Bolsena Mass) and remembered by a Latin epitaph in the location of the miracle.
According to tradition, at the moment of consecration, the host began to bleed on the corporal. Fearful and confused, the priest, trying to hide the fact, concluded the celebration, wrapped the host in the linen corporal and fled to the sacristy. During the journey some drops of blood fell on the marble floor and the steps of the altar.
Peter of Prague immediately went to Pope Urban IV, who was in Orvieto, to report the event. The pontiff sent the bishop of Orvieto to Bolsena to verify the truth of the story and to recover the relics.
Urban IV declared the supernatural event and to commemorate it, on August 11, 1264, he extended the feast of Corpus Christi, established in 1247 in the diocese of Liege, to the entire Church to celebrate the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
This feast opposed the teachings of Berengar of Tours, who believed that the eucharistic presence of Christ was not real but only symbolic.
Urban IV also entrusted Thomas Aquinas with the task of preparing the texts for the liturgy of the hours and the feast day mass, and established that Corpus Christi should be celebrated on the first Thursday after Pentecost.
In 1290, Nicholas IV built the cathedral of Orvieto to house the corporal. Later, the cathedral was expanded with the Chapel of the Corporal in 1364 and the new Chapel in 1504.
The Catholic Church officially recognized the Eucharistic miracle, and its relics are kept in the cathedral of Orvieto and in the Basilica of Santa Cristina in Bolsena. In the Chapel of the Corporal in Orvieto, the host, the corporal and the purificators are kept, which in 1338 were placed in the reliquary of Ugolino of Vieri, where they currently remain.