Chiesa di Sant'Eustachio e Santa Maria di Loreto

The Church of Sant'Eustachio and Santa Maria di Loreto is among Scanno's oldest documented religious buildings. Rebuilt around the turn of the eighteenth century, it preserves a medieval portal, Baroque paintings and a wooden statue of Sant'Eustachio as a Roman warrior.

Why it matters

The church appears in papal records from the twelfth century and served as Scanno's first parish. Although parish life later shifted to Santa Maria della Valle, Sant'Eustachio retained a ceremonial role in the town's religious traditions.

What to notice

The plain façade contrasts with the church's Baroque interior. A medieval portal with a lunetted archivolt survives at the entrance. Inside, Francesco Antonio Borzillo's 1698 ceiling painting depicts the Coronation of the Virgin. A wooden statue of Sant'Eustachio as a Roman warrior is among the church's notable works, alongside a fifteenth-century wooden Madonna.

Context and history

The church is recorded in papal bulls from 1156 onward. After repeated earthquake damage, the older building was demolished and rebuilt around 1700, with completion around 1712. The double dedication to Sant'Eustachio and Santa Maria di Loreto reflects the church's later history and the reconstruction of its high altar in 1698. A major restoration began in 2002, and the church reopened in 2013.