Cathedral of Atri
Churches, Museums and Monuments
The Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, or Atri Cathedral (in dialect, La Cattdral), is the co-cathedral of the Diocese of Teramo-Atri and the main church and most famous monument of Atri, a city of art with three thousand years of history on the Adriatic coast of Abruzzo, just a few kilometers from Pescara. It is also one of the symbolic monuments of Abruzzo.
Among the most significant examples of Abruzzese Romanesque architecture, the Cathedral of Atri was consecrated in 1223 and rebuilt between the 13th and 14th centuries. It is entirely made of Istrian stone, and time has bestowed upon it a magnificent cork-colored patina.
Its rectangular façade is simple yet majestic, adorned with a beautiful portal by the master Rainaldo (founder of the “Atrian school”). It is connected by a frame that starts from two lions to a rose window topped by a niche containing a figure of the Madonna with Child. On June 30, 1985, it was visited by John Paul II.
Volto Santo di Manoppello
It was 1999, and a surprising news came from Manoppello, a small but populous village of row houses arranged around the original castrum, located in Abruzzo at the foot of the Majella. Right here, “forgotten for 400 years,” as people said, was the Veronica (the “true icon”), the veil on which the Face of Jesus Christ was imprinted and which once was in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Miracolo Eucaristico di Lanciano
The Miracolo Eucaristico di Lanciano is the oldest known, having occurred according to tradition around the year 700. The miracle took place in the small Church of Saints Legontian and Domitian, in Lanciano, a town in Abruzzo located just south of Chieti, and involved a Basilian monk as its protagonist.
This monk, while celebrating the Holy Mass, doubted that the Eucharistic species had truly transformed into the flesh and blood of Christ, when, suddenly, before the astonished eyes of the friar and the entire assembly of the faithful, the Host and the wine changed, respectively, into a piece of flesh and into blood.
Visit the website of the Sanctuary of the Miracolo Eucaristico.
Abbey of San Clemente a Casauria
The Abbey of San Clemente a Casauria is undoubtedly one of the most significant monuments of the artistic and architectural heritage of Abruzzo, as well as being an important testament to the monastic organization of the territory in the Middle Ages.
The original church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was built in the 9th century on the so-called Insula Piscariense created by the Pescara River, as evidenced by the bas-relief on the central portal. However, it was soon destroyed by the Saracens between 915 and 920. From then on, there was a series of destructions and subsequent reconstructions, connected to the figures of Abbot Wido, who remedied the Saracen destruction, Abbot Trasmondo, the abbots Giovanni and Grimoaldo who intervened following the Norman lootings, and finally, Oldrio.
Genti d’Abruzzo museum
Understanding Abruzzo by retracing 4000 years
“The fate of men in the region that for about eight centuries has been called Abruzzo was decided mainly by the mountains… the people of Abruzzo have remained tight in a very unique community of fate, characterized by a tenacious loyalty to their economic and social forms even beyond any practical utility, which would be inexplicable if one did not take into account that the constant factor of their existence is precisely the most primitive and stable of elements: nature.”
Ignazio Silone, introduction to the volume “Abruzzo e Molise”, Touring Club, Milan, 1948.
Casa natale Gabriele D’Annunzio
The “Casa Natale di Gabriele d’Annunzio” is located in the Palace that was the property of the d’Annunzio family from the 19th century and became a national monument in 1927.
D’Annunzio always remained attached to his city, and the city has chosen to remember the great poet through the creation of this museum path, consisting of photographs, explanatory panels, mementos, and objects belonging to the family and to the poet’s most spectacular deeds.
Some works by the painter Francesco Paolo Michetti and other local artists illustrate the places celebrated by the poet. The rooms of the house have been reconstructed with period furniture and decorations of particular artistic value, introduced by quotes from the poet’s works.