Chiesa e Convento di Sant'Antonio

The Franciscan church of Sant'Antonio in Sulmona was recorded by 1376. Its convent passed through monastic, military and penal uses before becoming a branch of the State Archive of L'Aquila. The church retains an eighteenth-century organ and an inlaid marble choir.

Why it matters

The church began as San Nicola della Forma, recorded in Sulmona's land registry in 1376. Around 1443 townspeople built the adjoining convent in gratitude to San Giovanni da Capestrano, credited with ending a feud between the Merlino and Quatrario families. After centuries of monastic use, the convent served as a prison from 1891 to 1984 and later housed the Sulmona branch of the State Archive of L'Aquila. The church remained in religious use through these changes.

What to notice

The façade, rebuilt after the 1933 earthquake, has a stepped outline and a portico of five round arches on plain columns. The eighteenth-century portal has a moulded frame, broken segmental tympanum and a Mazzara family plaque. Inside, the Latin-cross church has a single nave, a lunetted barrel vault and a dome over the presbytery. Stucco-finished columns and gilded composite capitals frame the interior. The organ of 1756, made by the Fedeli family of Camerino, sits on the counter-façade beneath a gallery carved with the Bourbon arms. The high altar of 1684 came from the De Cicco marble workshops of Pescocostanzo; the choir has 34 stalls behind an inlaid-marble iconostasis. Wooden and papier-mâché statues include San Pasquale Baylon and San Giovanni da Capestrano.

Context and history

The Observant Franciscans, known locally as Zoccolanti, took charge under Capestrano's direction and were succeeded in 1592 by the Reformed branch. The Reformed community developed an infirmary, pharmacy and library, and taught theology, philosophy and Scotist doctrine. From 1651 to 1681, Sulmona and Introdacqua residents funded rebuilding that added the dome, choir and large windows. The earthquake of 1706 damaged the church; reconstruction ended in 1726 and consecration followed in 1740. The convent was completed in 1744. The Napoleonic suppression of 1809 turned the buildings into barracks and a powder store. Monks returned in 1815; the convent served as a cholera hospital in 1835. Suppressed again in 1866, it passed to the state and became a prison in 1891. The church received its present dedication to Sant'Antonio, whose relic is preserved there. The convent became the seat of the Sulmona State Archive branch in 2010.