The Macchina of Santa Rosa is a 30 metre high tower, which is rebuilt every year in the months of July and August in honor of Saint Rose of Viterbo, the patron saint of the city of Viterbo, Italy. Every year on the evening of the 3rd September 100 men called “Facchini di Santa Rosa” (porters of Saint Rose) hoist the Macchina and carry it through the very narrow streets and squares of the medieval town centre. The whole route is a liitle bit more than 1 km.
The transport of the Macchina dates back to the transfer to the of the body of Saint Rose of Viterbo. In 1258, six years after her death, she was moved at the disposition of the Pope Alexander IV, from the former church Santa Maria del Poggio to the church Santa Maria delle Rose (today the pilgrimage chapel of Saint Rose).
Every five years a design competition is launched for a new Macchina. The guidelines of the competition ask for a 28m high tower, which is measured from the shoulder of the porters. The construction's maximum weight is to be less than 5 tonnes and the maximum width 4,3 metres. This is to respect the narrow parts of the historical centre, where eaves and balconies could strike the Macchina during transportation.
