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Leaving Viterbo by Porta Faul,
at approx. 1,5 km in direction of Tuscania, the thermal area
begins. Its centre is the spring Bulicame, quoted by Dante
in his “Inferno”, since the ancient times synonym of an Acherontean
place, one of the mouths of hell. Its sulphureous waters spout
at a temperature of 55° C/ 131° F. Originally discovered by
the Etruscans, exploited by the Romans, who built palaces
and baths since 310 BC, they have been visited by many illustrious
personalities, such as Gregory IX in 1350, Nicholas V in 1450,
Michelangelo, who sketched the ruins of the ancient baths
and De Montaigne (1580-1581), who compared them with the spa
of Lucca. The spa has suffered several distructions: by the
Lansquenets in 1527 and by an important flood in 1706.
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