ABSTRACT
The architectural complex of Sta Maria in Carbonara 1 consists of two buildings located inside the city walls 2 and in the shadow of the dome of the cathedral of San Lorenzo in the south-western area of Castrum Viterbii. The church and its conventual wing, placed at right-angles to each other, are to be found in the present-day Via di Sant’Antonio. This street, once named Via di Valle, represents a branch of the Roman consular road, the Via Cassia, which, starting from the hill on which the cathedral now stands, ran through the centre of the city and left at the Porta Vallia to meet the Via Cimina. 3 The church owes its name ‘de Carbonaria’ to its construction on so-called carbonare: 4 large ditches fitted with strong wooden piles, dug for defence in the plain beside the Via di Valle. 5
