L’Aquila in the Middle Ages

Santo Spirito in Maiella (Roccamorice)

The Eremo of Santo Spirito at Majella is surely the most renowned of the Majella hermitages and that has preserved its fascination intact over the centuries. Already a destination for hermits in the III century, Saint Pietro Celestino arrived here in 1246 and, after the construction of a church dedicated to the Holy Spirit on the site of St. Nicola’s hermitage, he remained there until 1293. The hermitage was mentioned also by Petrarch in his “De vita solitaria”, where the poet defined it as one of the most appropriate places to practice spiritual ascetism. Today the church (after the restoration by Pietro Cantucci from Manfredonia in 1600) consists of a sacristy and a housing unit built on two floors; a corridor running along a rock face leads to the recently renovated guest house. From the guest house you can climb the Scala Santa (Holy Stairs) to reach the oratory of the Maddalena and two large terraces built in the rocks.

Sant'Onofrio al Morrone (Sulmona)

The Eremo di Sant’ Onofrio was the last hermitage built by Pietro after 1290, although the Morrone was his first hermitage. The hermit friar settled here in 1292, where he stayed only one year, until he was elected pope. During the second world war, the Hermitage of Sant'Onofrio suffered considerable damage and its reconstruction has partly altered its original external structure. Located in the stone below the church, there is a cave where Pietro Celestino retired in prayer, and which holds a curiosity: the faithful attribute a healing power to the fresh water that flows on the bare rock made shiny by the ancient rite of “strofinatio” (whereby the faithful rub themselves against the rock made moist by the water to obtain healing from rheumatic diseases).

Santa Maria di Collemaggio (L'Aquila)

It is the most renowned Basilica in Abruzzo. Its building started in 1287 when Pietro returned from the Council of Lyon. Tt was then consecrated in 1288 and here, in 1294, Pietro was crowned pope. The entrance portal is in Gothic style, the façade is decorated with geometric red-and-white stone patterns. The rose window, a striking example of floral Gothic art, consists of a double row of columns and arches. The stunning interior includes a nave and two side aisles divided by pillars with an octagonal base; two Baroque altars are in the transept area, of which one has a polychromed terracotta (15th) by Silvestro dell'Aquila, pupil of Donatello. The basilica houses a mausoleum containing the remains of San Pietro Celestino. Every year, from the vespers of August 28th to the vespers of August 29th, the rite of the Forgiveness celebration, first jubilee in the history of Christianity, has been reviving with the opening of the Holy Door, the sole example outside the Vatican.

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The Bull of Forgiveness

The parchment that contains the text of the plenary indulgence donated by pope Celestine V to the city of L’Aquila and to all the world is now preserved in the armoured chapel of the Civic Palace Tower in memory of the role played by the population and the civil authorities of L'Aquila: they protected the precious document from the attempt of destruction by Pope Boniface VIII, who wanted to erase the political and religious value of such a revolutionary document produced by his undesired predecessor. The authenticity of the Bull of Forgiveness, called in question several times over the years, was finally confirmed by Pope Paul VI who promulgated a revised manual of indulgences in 1967 including the indulgence granted by Celestine V.