At the age of 13, in 1769, Wolfang Amadeus Mozart, accompanied by his father Leopold, left Salzburg for his first journey to Italy, heading towards Naples.
During the outward journey, the two travellers stopped in Centeno (hamlet of Proceno), in Acquapendente and in Viterbo, where they visited the Sanctuary of Santa Rosa.
But during his return trip, on July 11, 1770, an extraordinary event occurred.
Mozart and his father, tired and cold from the long journey, decided to take a quick stop in Civita Castellana.
From Leopold’s letter to his wife:
“… to everyone’s amazement, morning and evening it was always not cool, but so cold, that the night we left Rome for Civita Castellana we had to wear furs over our cloaks, to protect us from the cold.”
The door through which Mozart entered the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore in Civita Castellana
Here the child prodigy attended Mass and, attracted by the beauty of the organ in the chancel, wanted to play it during the liturgical function.
The organ of the Cathedral of Civita Castellana @Ph by Carolina De Nicolò
Today that organ, although subjected to important restorations and renovations started in 1857, still preserves its original, magnificent Baroque wooden case from the 1700s.
In 2006, on the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, a plaque was placed at the entrance to the Cathedral, reminding of the great man’s short but unforgettable stay in Tuscia