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MONALDESCHI CASTLE AND TERRITORIALS
MUSEUM OF THE BOLSENA LAKE.
The Fortress or Rocca Monaldeschi della Cervara, rising
majestically at the top of an outcrop that dominates die
medieval quarter, was built in various stages, from the
11th to the 14th century, when the Monaldeschi della Cervara
turned it into a bulwark of their rule over Bolsena.
The irregular ground plan
is trapezoidal and four slender towers rise up at the corners,
no two alike.
They reveal the original Gothic
structure of the building and are framed by regular
projections supported by brackets with dentils and depressed
arches.
The rooms of the Rocca Monaldeschi
today house the Museo Territoriale del Lago fit Bolsena,
entrance to which is through a courtyard containing funerary
stele and altars.
The museum is divided into six
sections, one of which is purely didactic and recostructions
the history of the lake and the civilizations that rose
and developed around it.
The didactic section,
using models drawing and panels,illustrates the various
phases of the formation of the territory that begine hundreds
and thousands of years ago wich appereances and volcanoes.
The section devoted to protohistory
also documents the Villanovan settlements with interesting
archaeological finds, as well as panels.
The showcases of the Etruscan
section contain finds from the tombs in the area
around die lake.
Of interest in the part of the museum
devoted to the Roman culture is the Panther Throne, used
in the cult of Dionysus and found in the archaeological
digs of Poggio Moscini, as well as pottery vessels,
oil lamps and paintings.
Hie other sections illustrate the history
of the medieval hamlet of Bolsena, with
particular attention to the economic activity and the naturalistic
aspects of the lake: the flora, fauna, morphological features.
There are also panels that explain in
detail the fishing activities of the lake, illustrating
equipment and terminology.
At the end of the visit to the museum
a climb to the glacis of the Fort provides the visitor
with a sweeping view of the lake.
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BOLSENA 
