San Lorenzo Nuovo – an ideal town at Bolsena Lake
San Lorenzo Nuovo – an ideal town at Bolsena Lake, was built on the second half of year 1700 on the command of Pope Clement XIV.
Pope Clement XIV wanted to give a new place to live to the citizens of the old town where land was sliding.
San Lorenzo Nuovo – an ideal town
Pope Clement XIV assigned the architect Alessandro Dori to plan the work for the new town. On his death, Francesco Navone continued the work and developed a project of an “ideal town”as an outpost of Rome.
The architect Francesco Navone planned for the town an area where two main old roads cross each other: S.S. Cassia and S.S. Maremmana.
The town’s layout is in the direction east-west. In this way Saint Lawrence Martyr Church and the Convent of the Cappuccini make a religious axis street network that forms in the octagonal square a Latin cross with the via Cassia. The engineer Fillippo Prada began the construction work of the town in 1774.
The town’s buildings are in line with all of the eight sides of the octagonal square. The town has large streets and squares that are elegant and are cut at right angles.
The Church of Saint Lorenzo dominates the octagonal square with its 34 m hight.
The buildings in the old town are neoclassical style. They look very different from the medieval buildings in the other towns on the lake shore.
From San Lorenzo Nuovo you can easily visit the amazing towns in Umbria, Toscana and Lazio.
Every year between August 11th – August 20th in San Lorenzo Nuovo takes place the Sagra degli Gnocchi. At Sagra degli Gnocchi you can taste delicious typical gnocchi dishes.
On January 17th, each year, San Lorenzo Nuovo celebrates Saint Antony.
