San Lorenzo Nuovo is a small town and comune in the province of Viterbo , in the Latium region of Italy. It is an agricultural center producing potatoes, olive oil , garlic, onions, cereals and grapes. A second source of revenue is tourism.
The town is located on the northern side of Lake Bolsena 's crater rim. It dominates the lake basin on one side and the valley of the Acquapendente on the other side, at the crossing of the ancient Via Cassia now state road 2 and the via Maremmana state road The rock known as "Sasso della graticola" is placed to mark the border with Bolsena and Castelgiorgo.
San Lorenzo Nuovo is famous for the harmonious symmetry and linearity of its streets, due to Francesco Navone. Originally inhabited by the Etruscans , after the Roman conquest San Lorenzo was elected municipium and prefecture.
According to tradition, the inhabitants had asked for protection from the heavens during the 5th-century AD invasions of the Vandals ; on the feast of Saint Apollinare , a dense fog came down and the invaders spared the town. In β, refugees came here from Tiro, a small centre placed on the hill of Civita later "Svignata" , when the original Etruscan town of Grotte di Castro was destroyed by the Lombards under king Desiderius.
It was in this area, according to Roman Martyrology , that Saint Christina of Bolsena would have been martyrized. Before , the old village of San Lorenzo alle Grotte was located in the lowlands closer to Lake Bolsena than the current village. This ancient hamlet was named after the numerous surrounding caves grotte. Due to its location along the Via Cassia , in a central position for the interests of Orvieto , Viterbo and Sovana , San Lorenzo alle Grotte had been always of strategic importance and was contended for by local noblemen and the Church.
