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Bill Thayer |
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A town of western Abruzzo: 42°21N, 13°24E. Altitude: 710 m. Population in 2003: 69,100. |
The Fontana delle 99 Cannelle: a 13c fountain with 99 spouts.
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L'Aquila is a provincial capital high above the Aterno river in the western flank of the Abruzzo, 113 km ENE of Rome, 58 km E of Rieti (Lazio); and 100 km W of Pescara the long way: the main road goes dozens of kilometers around some of the highest mountains in peninsular Italy.
The town has a definite urban feel to it, yet you're never very far from the rather wild surrounding mountains; so that if you want fresh air and water, this is the place. The fountain you see above, for example, very curiously considering that it's the universally recognized symbol of L'Aquila, is at the very edge of the city, about 30 meters from open country. Not all the many fountains are old, either: one of the largest and most attractive is late 20c.
As I found out in a sweltering week of August, L'Aquila often stays cool in the summer: that may be useful information!
The one sight you must not miss is the elegant, handsome, historic church — also almost out of town — of S. Maria di Collemaggio, the site of the first Jubilee, decreed by the controversial Pope Celestine V, a native of the area. For the Catholic Church he is a saint, but Dante puts him in Hell: either way, his imposing tomb is in the church.
A massive and perfectly preserved fortress, built in 1534 by the Spaniard viceroy of Naples to intimidate the Aquilani after a revolt, is now the attractive centerpiece of a large park at the other end of town. Several other large medieval churches round out the picture.
A small website is slowly appearing here, since I've been to L'Aquila, if briefly.
[ 11/28/17: 13 churches, 2 pages, 18 photos ] On April 6, 2009 L'Aquila was hit by a massive earthquake, with often severe damage to her churches. I will be writing such pages as I can on these churches, with photographs naturally; I started with an orientation page: an initial sampler consisting of one bare photograph of each of those I've seen. One small church has received a full treatment, with a page of its own. |
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[ 142 pages of print; 141 photos, 1 plan ] In 1929 art historian Luigi Serra published a handsome book on the city, which book had remained under copyright thru 31 Dec 2010 — amazing laws — but finally rose into the public domain: Aquila covers the history of art in the capital of the Abruzzo from the (rather sparse) Roman remains up to modern art (that is, contemporaneous with the author). The riches of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance will naturally hold our attention most strongly. |
You may find it useful to read what the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica has to say about the town; and the Aug. 30, 2000 entry of my diary, which also has an exterior photo of the Basilica di Collemaggio. Pending my own webpages, detailed information is provided in the websites below.
Images with borders lead to more information.
The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.) |
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A page or image on this site is in the public domain ONLY if its URL has a total of one *asterisk. If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use. If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information. |
Site updated: 9 Jun 20