Sulmona - Sulmona

Sulmona is a city ofAbruzzo.

To know

Already oppidum dei Peligni, later a Roman municipality, in 43 BC. Sulmo it was the birthplace of the Latin poet Publio Ovidio Nasone. In the Middle Ages, by the will of Frederick II, it was from 1233 to 1273 the seat of the Giustizierato d'Abruzzo and the administrative capital of the region. Now the main center of the Peligna Valley is a city with notable monuments. It is famous for the production of confetti.

Geographical notes

Sulmona rises in the center of the Peligna Valley, between the Vella and Gizio streams, to the west of the Majella and Morrone mountains, which overlook the city. The territory of the Peligna Valley, whose name derives from the Greek peline = "muddy, slimy", in prehistoric times it was occupied by a huge lake. Following disastrous earthquakes, the rock barrier that obstructed the passage of water to the sea collapsed; on the other hand, the soil remained fertile.

When to go

Climate	gen	Feb	mar	apr	mag	down	Jul	needle	set	Oct	nov	dec
Maximum (° C)	7,9	10,3	14,1	18,7	23,5	28,4	31,5	31,7	26,5	19,6	13,9	9,7
Minimum (° C)	-0,1	0,6	3,3	6,6	10,2	13,9	15,5	15,5	13,0	8,7	5,4	1,8

On the one hand, the valley is protected by all its mountains, but for the same reason it can be very sultry in the hottest periods and very humid in the rainy periods. Frosts and snow are frequent in winter, as occurred in January 2002-2005, and in December 2007.

Background

The ancient writers, including Ovid and Silio Italico from Sulmona, agree on the remote origin of Sulmona, linking it to the destruction of Troy. The name of the city derives in fact from Solimo (Σωλυμος in ancient Greek), one of the companions of Aeneas. The first historical information, however, comes to us from Tito Livio who mentions the Italic oppidum and tells how the city, despite the lost battles of Trasimeno and Canne, remained faithful to Rome closing its doors to Hannibal. On the heights of Mount Mitra there are archaeological evidence of the oppidum; it is an area located higher than the current seat of the city, which assumed this position only in the Roman period.

The Roman Sulmo it was the seat of one of the three Peligni municipalities together with Corfinium is Superaequum. In 81 BC the destruction of the city by Silla occurs, following the rebellion to obtain the full application of the Lex Cornelia de Suffragiis; after thirty-two years, however, there was a rebirth. In 43 BC the Latin poet Publio Ovidio Nasone was born in Sulmona, the singer of love and of the "Metamorphoses", thus inscribing the name of the city in history. From the initials of the famous Ovidian hemistich Sulmo Mihi Patria Est the city took the letters contained in its coat of arms, 'SMPE'. Traces of the Roman Sulmona have re-emerged from the excavations in the temple of Ercole Curino, located at the foot of Mount Morrone where, according to an ancient legend, there are the remains of Ovid's villa. Research has brought to light a bronze copy representing the resting Hercules, now kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Abruzzo, in Chieti. It is a small bronze, a gift from a merchant, dating back to around the third century BC, representing the hero leaning with his left arm on the club from which a lion's skin hangs: it is considered one of the masterpieces of small ancient plastic. In addition to the Hercules, architectural materials and votive images were found.

With the advent of Christianity, the Peligno territory initially consisted of a single large diocese, that of Valva, to which was added that of Sulmona. With the dominion of the Swabians, during the reign of Frederick II, there was the construction of exceptional civil works, such as the medieval aqueduct, one of the most important monuments of the Abruzzo era. political point of view, Sulmona became common under the Normans and, united to Marsica, constituted a single large province. Federico II, thanks to the statutes of Melfi, promoted the city to the capital and seat of the curia of one of the great provinces into which he divided the continental part of the kingdom. Finally Sulmona was the seat of the execution and of a study of canon law equivalent to that of Naples. Also very important was the provision that of the seven annual fairs held in seven cities of the kingdom, the first took place in Sulmona ("primae nundinae erunt apud Sulmonam") from 23 April to 8 May. closely the story of the resigning pope fra 'Pietro da Morrone, better known as pope Celestino V. In addition to the most well-known story, we must remember the institution in Sulmona of the monastic congregation of the hermits of San Damiano, later called Celestini. The cell of Celestino V can still be visited in the nearby Hermitage of Sant'Onofrio al Morrone.In the 14th century Sulmona had its own mint and minted coins.

The fall of the Swabians led to the advent of the Angevins, who fiercely opposed the city, not forgiving its loyalty to Frederick II and the subsequent support for the young Corradino of Swabia. Thus Sulmona was deprived of the execution and then of the faculty of canon law. Despite everything in the fourteenth century the city tripled its surface and was surrounded by a second circle of walls and six gates. Also in this century the Palazzo dell'Annunziata was built, first asylum for orphans, then hospital and today one of the symbols of the city.During the sixteenth century the Sulmonese Goldsmith School was born, whose artifacts exhibited the SUL brand. The paper industry was born and various factories were set up along the Gizio river. The trade also grew considerably, thanks to the market for precious fabrics (Sermont silk). At the end of the century the art of printing was then introduced, thanks to the Ovid scholar and scholar Ercole Ciofano. Ovid's works were published and the chapters of the Giostra Cavalleresca were published.

Held from the mid-sixteenth century until the end of the century by the De Lannoy family, who came in the wake of Charles V who gave it to them with the title of principality, the city was again enfeoffed in the seventeenth century with a princely title to Marcantonio II Borghese nephew of Pope Paul V from King of Spain Philip III. On 3 November 1706, three years after that of L'Aquila, a disastrous earthquake occurred which destroyed the entire city: little remained of the palaces and churches that Sulmona boasted.

The nineteenth century marked a new period of rebirth, in which the Sulmonese railway junction, thanks to its strategic position, had considerable development and with it there was an equal economic and demographic growth. In 1889 another great personality of the city was born, Giuseppe Capograssi, a distinguished scholar of the philosophy of law. 20th century.

During the Second World War Sulmona suffered serious damage and, given its position close to the Gustav Line, saw the depopulation of the whole southern area (from the western Maiella to the upper Sangro area). The city was bombed on August 27, 1943 as a strategic road and railway junction. The railway station was hit; the other objective was the industrial plant "Dinamitificio Nobel" which produced explosive materials.

During the second half of the twentieth century, the proposal was made to make Sulmona the capital of a new province, but the project did not come to fruition. The city was also stripped of institutions that contributed to its wealth, such as the Military District. The riots of protest were born, remembered as the riots of Jamm 'mò.

How to orient yourself

Neighborhoods

Its municipal territory also includes the towns of Acqua Santa, Albanese, Cavate, Badia, Banchette, Case Bruciate, Case Lomini, Case Panetto, Case Susi Primo, Case Susi Secondo, Casino Corvi, Faiella, Fonte d'Amore, Marane, Santa Lucia, Torrone, Tratturo Primo, Tratturo Secondo, Vallecorvo and Zappannotte

How to get

By plane

• Pescara airport (Abruzzo International Airport), Via Tiburtina Km 229.100, ☎ 39 085 4324201. 

By car

• Highway exit Pratola Peligna-Sulmona on the highway Rome-Pescara
• State road 17 of the Abruzzese Apennines and Appulo Sannitica
• State road 479 Sannita
• State road 487 di Caramanico Terme

On the train

Railway station, Civil War Victims square. The city station is the second most important railway junction in Abruzzo after that of Pescara and is located on the railway lines:

• Rome–Pescara
• Terni-L'Aquila-Sulmona
• Sulmona–Isernia. 

By bus

• Bus lines managed by ARPA - Abruzzesi regional public bus lines [1]

How to get around

What see

• 42.054113.92051 Cathedral of San Panfilo, viale Giacomo Matteotti. Cathedral church of the city of Sulmona and the Diocese of Sulmona-Valva, whose construction dates back to the year 1075. Today it is the result of a series of architectural stratifications overlapped over the centuries starting from the original construction (according to tradition) on a Roman age temple. Originally dedicated to Santa Maria, it underwent a series of transformations as early as the 12th century and in that period it was dedicated to the patron saint of Sulmona, San Panfilo. Struck and severely damaged following the earthquake of 1706, it was rebuilt with baroque forms, partly still visible today, despite recent restorations. It has the rank of minor basilica.

The facade it has a Gothic-style frame in the lower part, a continuation, along the right side, of the ogival portal, the latter flanked by columns that support the aedicules in which the statues of San Panfilo and San Pelino are housed (works by Nicola Salvitti , 1391). Leonardo da Teramo is instead the fresco of the end of the fourteenth century placed in the lunette.

Access to the sacristy is guaranteed by a small side portal from the seventeenth century, while the portal on the left side, with beautiful inscriptions in Lombard characters and a fragment of a Roman tombstone, and the three apses marked by anthropomorphic motifs, are instead clearly Romanesque. At the center of the decoration, Ovid's hemistichio stands out, as famous as it is important for the Peligna city that was the birthplace of the poet: Sulmo mihi patria est.

The church has a basilica plan, which has remained unchanged, despite the numerous alterations that the temple has undergone over the centuries; the three naves are marked by Romanesque columns. Two funerary monuments, one of the bishop Bartolomeo De Petrinis (1422) and the other probably of the sister of the high prelate, are visible on the wall of the counter-façade. Behind the funeral mausoleums there are two frescoes from the fifteenth century, one Crucifixion and the Redeemer between two saints. The organ placed under the entrance is from the 18th century and is presented with a gilded wooden bill.

The vault of the main nave is frescoed with Stories from the life of Saint Panfilo and Saint Peter Celestino, works on tempera by Amedeo Tedeschi (1906); the presbytery leads towards a wooden choir from 1751, the work of Ferdinando Mosca and a polychrome marble altar from the 18th century.

In the side aisles the marble altars and the baptismal font of the Neapolitan school (1757) and a 14th century Crucifix are worthy of note; in the chapel on the right of the presbytery, a beautiful wooden sculpture depicting the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Giacomo Colombo from 1707.

The crypt, the oldest part of the church, is divided into three naves with transverse columns with capitals of fine workmanship at the top; under the vault of the room, is the marble aedicule that houses the remains of San Panfilo with a reliquary bust. Also worthy of note is the so-called Madonna delle Fornaci, a bas-relief from the 12th century.

The Chapter Archive of the Peligna Cathedral is undoubtedly one of the most importantAbruzzo, as it preserves period documents starting from the 11th century, with parchments, codes, diplomas, baptism books. Numerous documents and sacred furnishings, formerly present in the cathedral, are now exhibited at the Civic Museum of Sulmona. 

• 42.04938613.9234112 Complex of the Annunziata, Piazza dell'Annunziata. The Santissima Annunziata Complex is the most famous and representative monument of the city of Sulmona and is considered one of the most significant in southern Italy.

In addition to the main entrance of the complex, other interesting visual views of the building can be admired from the adjacent streets, Via Pantaleo and Via Paolina.

The church

Founded in 1320 by the brotherhood of the Compenitenti together with the adjoining hospital, it does not preserve traces of the original construction, both due to the damage suffered in the earthquake of 1456, and due to the architectural transformation interventions that radically changed the structure of the early sixteenth century . In addition, another disastrous seismic event, that of 1706 led to a new, important reconstruction intervention that gave the church a Baroque appearance, with an imposing façade with two orders of columns, the latter by Maestro Norberto Cicco di Pescocostanzo

The interior it is divided into three naves and is covered with stucco. Among the paintings that embellish the church, the frescoes by Giambattista Gamba on the vaults and the canvases on the side altars, among which the outstanding quality Pentecost of 1598 by a Florentine master and the Communion of the Apostles by Alessandro Salini. The apse instead presents two works by Giuseppe Simonelli, a pupil of Luca Giordano, la Nativity and the Presentation in the temple and one Annunciation by Lazzaro Baldi, Tuscan artist pupil of Pietro da Cortona.

The wooden choir was made by the local artist Bartolomeo Balcone between 1577 and 1579, while the part underneath the organs, in a vaguely Rococo style, in carved and gilded wood, is by Ferdinando Mosca. The organs instead are, the one on the left side by Tommaso Cefalo di Vasto (1749) and the one on the right side was built by the Fedeli di Camerino in 1753.

At the bottom of the right aisle there is the altar of the Virgin, in polychrome marble, a work partly carried out by the Roman artist Giacomo Spagna (1620), with subsequent contributions by artists from Pescocostanzo.

The sacristy has carved furniture dating back to 1643 with a series of sacred furnishings from the Baroque period and Neapolitan silverware; there are numerous pieces from the church that are exhibited at the local Civic Museum.

The bell tower (built between 1565 and 1590, imposing, just over 65 meters high, has a square plan with sides of 7.20 m; it is built on two floors with a pyiramidal spire and 4 mullioned windows for each floor. it was reopened for worship in December 2012 after three years of closure due to the 2009 earthquake

The palace

The construction of the building adjacent to the church began in the fifteenth century and lasted for almost two centuries. The earthquake of 1706 and the renovations of the nineteenth century until the last of 1968, have profoundly changed the internal part of the building, however the overall architectural structure, especially as regards the facade and the general plan, in addition to the walls, have remained more or less unaltered.

There were various destinations that the building had over the centuries. The rear area of ​​the building was used as a Civil Hospital until 1960, while the front part was used as the seat of the city judiciary, municipal offices, the conciliator judge, a public school and, lastly, the Civic Museum.

Today a part of the complex is used as a 250-seat Auditorium for the activity of the Sulmonese Camerata Musicale.

The earthquake that hit Abruzzo in 2009 caused damage to the building's structures, so much so that the medieval part of the civic museum is unusable.

The facade of the palace shows an overlap of styles. The ogival portal (the ancient Porta dell'Orologio) is in the Gothic style (around 1415) with an arch where the statue of St. Michael the Archangel is placed. The pairs of columns end in two small raised rose windows and a Neapolitan school Madonna and Child is placed in the lunette. Very beautiful is the fifteenth-century three-mullioned window, with ornaments of twisted columns that insist on lion figures and a sculpture depicting the Virtues. The coat of arms of the city surmounts the window together with the symbol of the arms of the family of Antonuccio di Rainaldo, an important financier of the building, as documented by the inscription.

The central part of the façade is clearly of Renaissance derivation, with its portal surmounted by a tympanum (on which a high relief depicting a Madonna with Child and four praying Angels is visible) leading to the Chapel of the Body of Christ. Above there is a mullioned window with two angels holding a coat of arms with the initials A.M.G.P. (Pio Entity of the Holy House of the Annunciation). This portion of the facade dates back to the second half of the 15th century.

The side part of the façade, whose construction was carried out between 1519 and 1522, has a mullioned window overlooking the portal of the ancient apothecary, without a tympanum with decorations also of Renaissance imprint that depict, in bas-relief, the Angel and the Virgin.

On the whole facade there is a very particular frame, decorated with putti, heralds, fantastic animals and sacred and profane figures crossed by scrolls formed by a vine branch motif. On the facade there are seven statues representing, in order, from left to right: San Gregorio Magno, San Bonaventura, Sant'Agostino, San Girolamo (doctors of the Church), San Panfilo (patron saint of Sulmona), San Pietro and San Paolo.

A small bell gable, built by fishermen following a restructuring after the earthquake of 1706 and which goes to surmount the clock, completes the complex perspective structure.

The side bodies and the back of the palace were built in different periods starting from 1483 until 1590 and this is testified by the various inscriptions found on the building. : The main entrance of the building is the Porta dell'Horologio (1415) which leads into a hall at the bottom of which is a statue of the poet Ovid, represented in medieval clothes holding a book on which the well-known hemistich is clearly visible. on the seals and coats of arms of the city of Sulmona, Sulmo mihi patria est and at the base of which is the following inscription: POET OVIDIUS NASO - SULMONENSIS. The parts of the building facing the courtyard were subsequently transformed and are modernized, as are the access ramps to the Auditorium. The spaces on the ground floor are used for museum functions.  

• 42.04655313.9251263 Church of Santa Maria della Tomba, Piazza Plebiscito 1. This is the third most important church, after the cathedral of San Panfilo and the complex of the Santissima Annunziata. It was built around 1076 over the ruins of a Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter. In the 12th century, the great Romanesque and Gothic reliefs visible today were added, and in the Baroque era, in 1700, an internal oratory was added. In the seventies of the twentieth century an impressive restoration cleaned the facade of the frescoes and Baroque elements, also cleaning the white marble from the effects of automotive gases, restoring the church to its original form.

The large and rectangular Romanesque-Gothic façade has a Gothic-style portal, surmounted by a very large rose window. The rounded portal has carved the coat of arms of the Aragona family on the lunette, which in the Middle Ages had dominion over Sulmona. On the right of the façade stands the tower of the bell gable, with a clock embedded in it. A second, larger bell tower is behind the first tower. The interior, divided into three naves by a Gothic colonnade, includes a wooden statue of Christ from the 17th century. Other elements are included in the statue of the Madonna and Child and an imposing fresco depicting Adam and Eve in the earthly Paradise. On a niche there is a bell of the fourteenth century, removed from the loggia of a steeple bell tower of the Sulmonese church of San Francesco della Scarpa. 

• 42.0885413.9223674 Badia Morronese (Santo Spirito al Morrone Abbey: Morrone Abbey; Celestinian Abbey) (in the Badia hamlet about 5 km). The architectural complex of considerable size (119 m x 140 m approximately) is surrounded by square-based towers and consists of a monumental church eighteenth-century and an imposing monastery articulated around three major courtyards and two minor ones, enclosed by a wall. : In the front there is a single entrance of 3.30 m wide, of Palladian architecture.

The hermit Pietro Angeleri, later pope with the name of Celestino V, was the founder of the religious building; the native anchorite of Isernia in fact, having reached the foot of Mount Morrone in 1241, he had the extension of the original chapel dedicated to Santa Maria del Morrone completed, later promoting the construction of a church dedicated to the Holy Spirit.

The church was equipped with a convent where in 1293 the building was officially proclaimed as the seat of the supreme abbot of the Celestine Order. A first reconstruction of the monastery was due to King Charles II of Anjou (1299; later there was an important embellishment in the sixteenth century and a reconstruction due to the seismic event of 1706. Redestined to a penitentiary after the suppression of religious orders in 1807, the he building underwent a massive restoration starting in 1997.

The eighteenth-century entrance portal leads into the so-called courtyard of the Platani facing the church, with a façade on two orders of semi-columns and a bell tower reminiscent of that of the Annunziata in Sulmona.

The interior is in the form of a Greek cross with a dome and the portal is internally surmounted by a beautiful Baroque organ with carvings, the work of Giovan Battista Del Frate (1681). The apse houses a remarkable wooden choir also from the Baroque period by an unknown author, while to the left of the presbytery there is the chapel dedicated to a noble and powerful Abruzzese family, the Caldora chapel, under one of whose arches there is the sarcophagus by Restaino Caldora-Cantelmo, by Gualtiero d'Alemagna (1412). On the back wall there are the fifteenth-century frescoes by Giovanni da Sulmona (Baptism of Jesus, Entry into Jerusalem, Jesus loaded with the cross is Crucifixion).

Under the church there is a small church with an irregular plan which is accessed by a flight of steps that opens into a passage in the floor.

The external portico has cylindrical columns. From the left courtyard, called the courtyard of the Nobles, rectangular in shape, you pass into the refectory, according to the typical seventeenth-century monastic scheme. 

• 42.04784213.9245645 Church of San Francesco della Scarpa, via Panfilo Mazara 13. Founded in the 13th century, it was damaged several times by earthquakes. With the adjoining convent it was leaning against the first circle of the city. It has a Gothic portal, splayed, with a lunette frescoed by one Madonna of the milk. The interior has a single nave in Baroque style and preserves furnishings from the abbey of Monte Morrone, an eighteenth-century pipe organ and an imposing fifteenth-century wooden crucifix in the presbytery area, placed in suspension. 

• 42.089713.9366 Hermitage of Sant'Onofrio al Morrone (from the hamlet of Badia through a path). The hermitage of Sant'Onofrio al Morrone is a religious building located on the slopes of the homonymous mountain, near Sulmona, dating back to the thirteenth century, which houses the memory of Pietro Angelerio (or Pietro da Morrone), the hermit friar who here lived and became pope in 1294 with the name of Celestino V and then holy. The complex can be reached via a steep path, although easy to walk, which leads from the hamlet of Badia, on the eastern edge of the Peligna Valley, up to an altitude of 620 meters where the hermitage is located.

It was commissioned by Pietro da Morrone, who retired here when he resigned from the papal throne in 1295 after being Pope for only four months.

The hermitage during the last world war suffered considerable damage that altered its original structure, although the subsequent reconstruction has maintained the plan of the building with variations in the external appearance.

Church

In front of the church (dimensions 7.30 x 4.80 m) is a portico that leads to the small square facing the churchyard. Inside the church there are, on the left wall, some remains of 15th century frescoes depicting Christ the King and St. John the Baptist, and some later paintings representing a Madonna and Child with Santa Lucia and Santa Apollonia.

The fifteenth-century triptych on wood that depicted Sant'Onofrio, San Pietro Celestino and the Blessed Roberto de Salle (disciple of Angelerio), removed in 1884, is no longer present. The wooden ceiling is very beautiful and of valuable fifteenth-century workmanship. The church is covered by a barrel vault and has two modern altars inside with Sant'Onofrio and Sant'Antonio abate and at the bottom of the room there is an arch that leads to the chapel of the oratory.

Oratory

There are some frescoes attributed to a "Magister Gentilis" probably contemporary of Pietro da Morrone which depict the Crucifix with Mary and St. John on the sides; on the two arms of the cross there are two angels, one holding a crown of thorns, the other bearing a crown radiata. The lunette above the work is painted with a representation of the Virgin and Child on a blue background, while in the other lunette in front there are the busts of San Benedetto (dressed in red with a closed book in his hand), San Mauro and Sant'Antonio (with yellow tunic and red cloak). The barrel vault is blue with a starry background.

On the side walls, valuable remains of 14th century paintings, one of which deserves a mention as it depicts Pietro Celestino in the guise of pontiff; the saint wears a tiara woven with yellow threads with a hooded robe overlaid over the white cloak.

In the center there is a small white stone altar that supports a crucifix which, according to tradition, was consecrated by Celestino himself who was staying in Sulmona, on his way to Naples after the coronation.

The corridor that opens on the right side of the oratory collects the openings of the cells of Pietro Celestino and of the blessed Roberto da Salle, in what constituted the original nucleus of the hermitage, together with the oratory itself; at the bottom, a niche contains the fresco of a Crucifixion and another depiction of Pietro Celestino with papal robes. A flight of stairs leads to the lodgings on the upper floor, now used as a place for spiritual retreats and to the terrace where the faithful use to throw stones into the precipice below, symbolizing the desire to ward off temptations.

Celestinian cave

It was the place where, according to tradition, Pietro Celestino retired in prayer; it is located in the stone below the church and can be reached via an external staircase that starts in front of the access portico. The faithful use to rub themselves against the bare rock made moist by the water that flows there (the one where the saint would have slept and which would keep the imprint of his body), to obtain healing from rheumatic diseases. Here come, among other things, the pilgrimages of May 19, the feast of St. Peter Celestino and June 12, the feast of St. Onofrio. 

• 42.0899913.922767 Sanctuary of Ercole Curino (in Badia). The archaeological site is located in Badia, on the Morrone mountains between the abbey of Santo Spirito dei Celestini and the hermitage of Celestino V. The excavations, begun in 1957, had initially suggested the presence of Ovid's villa, originally of Sulmo, but later revealed the site of an Italic sanctuary, dedicated to Hercules as evidenced by the type of votive material found and the dedication inscriptions. The epithet of Curinus or Quirinus was also given to other divinities, such as the Jupiter Quirinus of Superaequum and was given in the Republican era. The Romans in fact linked the epithet "Quirinus" with the deified Romulus, symbol of the unity of the protohistoric communities that formed the primitive settlement of Rome (Quirinus would in fact be at the origin of the curia).

An extension of the sanctuary dates back to after the end of the social war (89 BC), when it was enlarged from a local structure to a large sanctuary on terraces similar to the sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia in Palestrina or the sanctuary of Ercole Vincitore a Tivoli, which arose in the same period.

The upper part of the building was buried by an ancient landslide around the 2nd century AD; the frequentation of the site, however, was not completely interrupted, as evidenced by the grafting of a church in the Christian era, close to the southern staircase which could have been a monumental entrance, perhaps also used as a meeting place for local assemblies, under the protection of the god "Curino"

The two terraces of the sanctuary were built in different periods: the lower one is more recent, in opus caementicium with a grandiose podium (71 meters long) which houses 14 rooms covered by barrel vaults; the upper one, presillano, was closed on three sides by a colonnaded portico (some bases remain). The altar, unusually covered with bronze plates, and the small chapel of the divinity were located in the center of the upper terrace. From the chapel come the most important finds of the complex, such as two cult statues of Hercules, one in bronze (at the Archaeological Museum of Chieti) and a marble, as well as a column with 12 graffiti lines, attributed to Ovid. 

• 42.048313.92698 Church of San Filippo Neri, piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi 46. It was built in the second half of the seventeenth century by the Congregation of San Filippo Neri. It has a Gothic portal, recovered from the fourteenth-century church of Sant'Agostino which collapsed and was never rebuilt; It is framed by bas-relief capitals, small columns and pillars. The bas-relief of the tympanum represents Saint Martin giving the cloak to a poor man. Along the façade a string course is adorned with heads of saints, religious and commoners. 
• 42.0498913.9251579 Church of San Domenico, via Pansa 2. The Dominicans built it in the 13th century; It has been rebuilt several times and has three naves. The facade was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1706, but was not finished 
• 42.0490813.9258210 Church and convent of Santa Caterina, via Angeloni 9. The fourteenth-century complex was rebuilt several times, in the twentieth century the convent was intended to house schools. The church has an elliptical plan, a unique feature in the area; it preserves frescoes by Giambattista Gamba and has a facade that recalls the architectural style of the Roman eighteenth century. The ovoid dome is very impressive. 
• 42.05020913.93386911 Church of St. John the Apostle and the Evangelist, via Cappuccini. Built in 1580, it was joined in 1650 by the convent of the Capuchin friars, previously housed at the Incoronata. Call a time St. John ante portam latinam, has a single nave with a barrel vault and three intercommunicating chapels on the left side; there is a seventeenth-century canvas depicting the titular saint and an eighteenth-century wooden tabernacle. The facade is of simple lines embellished by a narthex. 

• Medieval aqueduct. 
• Swabian aqueduct. 
• Garibaldi Square. 
• Palazzo Sardi. 
• Health Building. 
• Tabassi Palace. 
• Corvi Palace. 
• Porta Romana (1428). 
• Porta Napoli (1338). 
• Porta Pacentrana (1376). 
• Porta S.Antonio (XVIII secolo). 
• Porta Filiamabili (14th century). 
• Porta Japasseri (XIV- XV secolo). 
• Porta Santa Maria della Tomba (XV- XVI secolo). 
• Porta Saccoccia (15th century). 
• Porta Molina (XIII secolo). 

Museums

• Museo civico, Corso Ovidio. Il museo civico di Sulmona è il maggiore museo artistico-archeologico della Valle Peligna. Le sale sono ospitate nei 10 locali del Palazzo dell'Annunziata. Nelle prime 4 sale vi sono reperti archeologici di grande importanza e nell'ultima sala si possono ammirare i resti di una ricca domus romana. Le sale dalla 5 alla 10 ospitano la Pinacoteca, con opere che vanno dal XIII al XVIII secolo.

Tra le opere da segnalare quelle di Giovanni da Sulmona (il pittore peligno del primo Quattrocento), Maestro del Trittico di Beffi, Giuseppe Simonelli, Giuseppe Crescenzio, Giovanni Conca, Raffaello Mengs, e inoltre oreficerie, tessuti, opere pittoriche di ignoti, opere scultoree del XV e XVI secolo, armadi e leggii lignei. Negli stessi locali del palazzo è ospitato il Museo dei Costumi Abruzzesi e Molisani, dal 1800 al 1900. 

• Museo dell'Arte e della Tecnologia Confettiera, via Stazione Introdacqua 55. Il museo dello stabilimento Pelino espone. oltre ai vari premi vinti ed a varie confezioni di confetti, tutti i macchinari per la produzione industriale di confetti dalla fondazione dello stabilimento nel XIX secolo ad oggi. 
• Museo di Storia Naturale, via Angeloni 11 (in Palazzo Sardi). Il museo si dirama in 7 sale suddivise in 2 piani. Nelle prime 2 sale al primo piano vi è una collezione di insetti prevalentemente del territorio gestito dalla comunità montana Peligna. Nelle successive 2 sale al primo piano una collezione di fossili, tra cui spiccano delle ammoniti, delle ossa di un cavallo ed un ittiosauro. Nelle 3 sale al secondo piano vi sono innumerevoli minerali che spaziano fra tutte le classi conosciute. Particolari sono, presso la rampa d'accesso al piano superiore, delle immagini di animali. 

• Museo Diocesano, Piazza Garibaldi 76. Il Museo diocesano di Sulmona è ospitato nei 3 locali del Monastero di Santa Chiara.

Rappresenta una sede distaccata dal Museo civico di Sulmona, perché la maggior parte delle opere proviene dalle chiese della Valle Peligna. Le poche ma grandi sale, un tempo residenza delle Clarisse del Monastero raccolgono opere dalla fine del XIII secolo al XVIII secolo

Da segnalare molte opere di ignoti, le Madonne col Bambino del XV secolo, paramenti sacri risalenti la maggior parte al XVIII secolo e oreficerie del XIV sec. e della fine del '600. Le opere provenienti da Sulmona sono poche; tra queste spicca il St. James del XVI secolo. 

• Museo archeologico "italico", "romano" ed "in situ". 
• Museo del costume popolare abruzzese-molisano e della transumanza. 

Events and parties

• Processione del Cristo morto. venerdì Santo. 
• "Madonna che scappa", in piazza. domenica di Pasqua. 
• Settimana Santa. I riti della Settimana Santa sulmonese sono i più suggestivi d'Abruzzo, conosciuti sia in Italia che all'estero. La loro origine risale documentariamente al Medioevo (anche se, nella loro forma attuale, sono solo del XVII o XVIII secolo) e sono organizzate dalle più importanti confraternite cittadine: l'Arciconfraternita della Trinità (con sede nell'omonima chiesa lungo Corso Ovidio) e la Confraternita di Santa Maria di Loreto (con sede nella chiesa di Santa Maria della Tomba). I membri dei due sodalizi sono detti rispettivamente Trinitari e Lauretani; a Sulmona sono chiamati popolarmente anche rossi (i Trinitari, per la loro tunica rossa) e verdi (i Lauretani, per il colore della loro mozzetta). 
• Festa dei Fuochi, in Piazza Maggiore. Metà aprile. Nella ricorrenza di San Giuseppe, a sera inoltrata, i vari sestieri della città accendono enormi cataste di legna in Piazza Garibaldi, dando vita a uno spettacolo suggestivo, contornato da canti e balli tipici. Nelle edizioni recenti vi sono anche alcuni stands con i prodotti tipici del luogo. 
• Certamen Ovidianum Sulmonense. in aprile. Concorso internazionale di latino riservato agli studenti del liceo classico organizzato dal Liceo Classico "Ovidio" e dall'Associazione "Amici del Certamen Ovidianum". 
• Il Sentiero della Libertà. Fine aprile. Marcia rievocativa dell'avventuroso sentiero che, negli anni dell'occupazione tedesca, superava, attraverso la Maiella, la Linea Gustav e raggiungeva le terre liberate dagli Alleati. 
• Fiera dell'Assunta e sagre popolari. July August. 
• Giostra Cavalleresca, Piazza Maggiore (piazza Garibaldi). Ultimo fine settimana di luglio. Era una manifestazione rinascimentale che si teneva due volte l'anno (in aprile e a ferragosto) e consisteva in tre assalti alla lancia, portati contro un bersaglio umano (il cosiddetto "mantenitore") da un cavaliere munito di una lancia con vernice bianca sulla punta. Il punteggio era assegnato da un "mastrogiurato" che dichiarava il vincitore in base alla parte del corpo colpita ed all'eventuale perdita di sangue.

La manifestazione è stata rievocata a partire dal luglio del 1995 e vede la partecipazione dei quattro sestieri e dei tre borghi in cui è stato diviso il territorio cittadino. I cavalli corrono percorrendo un ovale completo e quindi un otto, in circa 30 secondi e i cavalieri devono colpire degli anelli. Alla gara seguono un corteo storico, la sfida dei capitani e cene all'aperto nei borghi e nei sestieri. 

• Giostra Cavalleresca dei Borghi più Belli d'Italia e Giostra Cavalleresca d'Europa. Inizio agosto. 
• Estatecelestiniana, Eremo di S.Onofrio. in August. 
• Sulmona Rock Festival, Eremo di S.Onofrio. Fine agosto. 
• Premio Sulmona di arte contemporanea, Chiostro dell'ex Convento di Santa Chiara. September. 
• Premio Sulmona di giornalismo e critica d'arte, Chiostro dell'ex Convento di Santa Chiara. September. 
• Concorso Internazionale di canto lirico "Maria Caniglia". September. 
• Concorso Internazionale di pianoforte "Città di Sulmona". October. 
• Stagione concertistica della Camerata Musicale Sulmonese. Da ottobre ad aprile. 
• Sulmonacinema Film Festival. November. Festival del giovane cinema italiano a concorso 
• Premio nazionale "Un giorno insieme - Augusto Daolio - Città di Sulmona". December. per cantautori e gruppi emergenti (organizzato dall'associazione culturale Premio Augusto Daolio in collaborazione con il Nomadi fans club "Un giorno insieme"). 

What to do

• Holykart Sulmona, Via Fonte D'Amore (pista da Go-kart), ☎ 39 329 7834822. 

Shopping

• 42.048513.92421 ^{[link not working]}Confetti Rapone, Piazza XX Settembre, 7 (Guardando la statua di Ovidio a sinistra in fondo alla piazza), ☎ 39 086451201, @[email protected]. € 65 al Kg (agosto 2015). Fra gli innumerevoli negozi di confetti (per la maggior parte rivenditori ad uso dei turisti) spicca questa fabbrica di confetti ancora in centro nel luogo natale della prima produzione. L'insegna recita Antica e Premiata e Rinomata Fabbrica di Confetti Pluricentenaria in Sulmona, ed è così. La bottega, con ancora gli antichi arredi e strumenti artigianali, non solo è un luogo dove poter comprare degli ottimi confetti, ma è anche un viaggio indietro nel tempo quando tutto veniva prodotto a mano, molto meglio di un museo. Incredibile la varietà di confetti, sempre sulle vette della qualità e dei gusti classici. Non perdetevi la visita: se non c'è folla i proprietari (gli stessi da diverse generazioni) vi daranno tutte le spiegazioni (e gli assaggi) che vorrete. 

How to have fun

Where to eat

Average prices

• 42.06359313.9516591 Ristorante Frangio Al Casale, Via San Giuseppe 6 (Località Marane), ☎ 39 0864 212773. 
• 42.04767313.9235842 Ristorante Locanda Medievale Al Quadrivio, Vico Odorisio, ☎ 39 0864 55533. 
• 42.0484613.9256043 L'Osteria del Tempo Perso, Vico Del Vecchio, ☎ 39 0864 52545. 
• 42.04867513.9270124 ^{[link not working]}Ristorante Il Canestro, Via L. Dorrucci, 13, ☎ 39 0864 56568. 
• 42.04903113.9276965 La Sosta del Cavaliere, Via Circonvallazione Orientale, 117, ☎ 39 0864 56569. 
• 42.05090913.9228546 Ristorante Clemente, Vicolo Quercia, 5, ☎ 39 342 6226522. 
• 42.05342313.920957 Ristorante Pizzeria Le Metamorfosi, Viale Giacomo Matteotti, 14, ☎ 39 0864 32570. 
• 42.0549513.9208028 Il Club dei Buongustai, Via Pescara, 28, ☎ 39 0864 212859. 
• 42.05891413.9259969 Punto Pizza, Via Sallustio, ☎ 39 0864 34491. 
• 42.04812713.92566310 Ristorante La Bottega dei Miracoli, Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi, 16, ☎ 39 0864 212055. 
• 42.04709213.92378611 ^{[link not working]}Pizzeria Ristorante Il Vecchio Muro, Via Manlio D'Eramo, ☎ 39 0864 50595. 
• 42.04634313.92316312 Ristorante Hostaria Dell'Arco Pizzeria, Via Manlio D'Eramo, 60, ☎ 39 0864 210553. 
• 42.04622313.92515913 Ristorante Gino, Piazza Plebiscito, 12, ☎ 39 0864 52289. 

Where stay

Moderate prices

• 42.04808813.9242471 Albergo Stella, Via P. Mazara, 18, ☎ 39 0864 52653. Una stella 

Average prices

• 42.06289213.9521962 B&B L' Eremo, Via Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, 11, ☎ 39 0864 52749. 
• 42.06415513.9159973 Motel Salvador, Viale della Repubblica, 15, ☎ 39 0864 210357. 
• 42.04619113.9272834 B&B Santa Chiara, Via Circonvallazione Orientale, 32, ☎ 39 0864 52794. 
• 42.04693213.9239895 Amores Bed & Breakfast, Via Manlio D'Eramo, 19, ☎ 39 338 4928108. 
• 42.05012313.922946 B&B La Dimora, Corso Ovidio, 238, ☎ 39 0864 567759. 
• 42.0483113.9221897 B&B Il Marchese del Grillo, Via Corfinio, 62, ☎ 39 327 3570889. 
• 42.04839413.9228768 Albergo Italia, Largo Salvatore Tommasi, 3, ☎ 39 0864 207614. 
• 42.0504213.9239829 B&B Suite Salini, Via Aragona, 32, ☎ 39 339 3222940. 
• 42.05022913.92001310 B&B Porta Romana, Via Circonvallazione Occidentale, 115, ☎ 39 328 0234325. 

High prices

• 42.05372413.91924911 Hotel Santa Croce Ovidius, Via Circonvallazione Occidentale, 177, ☎ 39 0864 53824. Four stars 
• 42.04889213.92338512 Hotel Rojan, Via degli Agghiacciati, 18, ☎ 39 0864 950126. Four stars 

Safety

Pharmacies

• 42.0443113.9267541 Central, Piazza V. Veneto, 14, ☎ 39 0864 52645. 
• 42.05433213.9274752 Municipal, Viale Costanza, 12, ☎ 39 0864 33813. 
• 42.04734813.9247783 Del Carmine, Piazza del Carmine, 7/10, ☎ 39 0864 51260. 
• 42.0492613.9238384 Del Corso, Corso Ovidio, 214, ☎ 39 0864 210830. 
• 42.04805113.925575 Delfino, Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi, 11, ☎ 39 0864 52318. 
• 42.05149813.9282346 Simoncelli, Piazza Capograssi, 10/12, ☎ 39 0864 51769. 

How to keep in touch

Post office

• 42.04696613.9245857 Italian post, piazza Brigata Maiella, ☎ 39 0864 247237, fax: 39 0864 33551. 
• 42.05236913.9204598 Italian post (Agenzia 1), via San Francesco d'Assisi 2, ☎ 39 0864 210955, fax: 39 0864 210955. 
• 42.04301213.932499 Italian post (Agenzia 2), via Montenero 59, ☎ 39 0864 210137, fax: 39 0864 212205. 
• 42.05022313.93226110 Italian post (Agenzia 3), via della Cornacchiola 3, ☎ 39 0864 211078, fax: 39 0864 210476. 

Around

• Anversa degli Abruzzi
• Field of Jupiter
• Introdacqua
• Pacentro
• Peoples
• Pratola Peligna
• Rivisondoli
• Scanno

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Sulmona
• Commons contains images or other files on Sulmona

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