Statua Papa Benedetto XI

In front of the parish church of San Vito stands the statue erected in honor of Pope Benedict XI. Here, in fact, Niccolò Bocassino was born in 1240, who was pope from October 22, 1303, to July 7, 1304. The house where he was born, which displays the papal insignia on the outside wall, is currently undergoing restoration work. The young Bocassino, a Dominican friar linked to the convent in Treviso, studied in Venice, Milan, and the Sorbonne in Paris. An esteemed cardinal with extraordinary diplomatic skills, he witnessed the outrage of Anagni as part of Pope Boniface VIII's entourage. Niccolò was elevated to the papal throne during a rather difficult period for the Church, shaken by internal struggles within the curia and with empty coffers. Benedict XI would exercise his power from Perugia, where he died and is buried.