L’Aquila’s reconstructed Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio

The Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio is L’Aquila’s most important church.

It was built in 1289 by the Celestines and is the final resting place of Pope Celestine V. With all of the Papal talk in these days, with the recent death of Pope Francis and the Conclave that elected Pope Leo, this is a fascinating part of Papal history.

Pope Celestine V was from Abruzzo. In theory, a Pope must only be a Catholic man, in practice, it is always a Cardinal. But Celestine,or Pietro di Morrone before assuming the papacy, (1210 or 1215 -1296) was not a Cardinal. He was a simple monk who founded the Celestines, but the two year infighting to select the next Pope, with two rival, noble families battling it out, a papal candidate with little knowledge of Roman political intrigues became a sought-out candidate.

Pietro di Morrone was singled out because he was not aligned with any of the powers of Rome.

He came to power in July of 1294. By December of the same year, he had abdicated the papacy. The next pope to have abdicated the office was Pope Benedict XIV in 2013.

Although Pope Celestine expressed his desire to return to life as a monk following his abdication, he was instead imprisoned by his successor, Pope Boniface VIII. He would die in prison in 1296. Poor Pope Celestine would also be punished in Italian literature – banished to Dante’s lower circle of hell because of his abdication.

Celstine was buried in the church he created, and would later be sainted.

Interestingly, in the devastating L’ Aquila earthquake of 2009, the ceiling of the Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio caved in. Miraculously, the tomb of Pope Celestine V was entirely usncathed. There are dramatic photos of rescuers carrying his tomb out from the wreckage.

On my recent visit back to L’ Aquila, I was thrilled to see this beautiful basilica restored.

This basilica is worth a visit when you’re next in L’Aquila.

And reconstructed L’Aquila definitely deserves a visit. Be sure to stop by on your next trip through Abruzzo.