Church of St. Emidio

2023

The church of Sant'Emidio dates back to the 14th century, with a Gothic portal, and houses art masterpieces by Giulio Monteverde, Giacomo Colombo, Giovanni and Amalia Dupré. Characteristic are the life-size wooden statues of the 12 apostles, attributed to the Neapolitan school of 1650. Adjacent to the church we find the Emidiana library, rich in ancient texts from the 11th century. The church has a rectangular plan, retaining a gabled façade with a fourteenth-century portal and an oculus rose window. The portal has splays and twisted or chiseled columns with vegetal motifs, and they curve to form a pointed arch, set in a gabled gable. Near the lunette there is the relief of the mystical Lamb carrying the cross, and above the façade the statue of Emidio blessing, who with one hand holds the model of the city of Agnone shaken by an earthquake, that of 1096, which destroyed the primitive church, which is why in the following centuries a new reconstruction was carried out. The bell tower is a simple tower adorned with a recently restored red pyramidal spire. The interior has two naves, with large Durazzesque arches, one covered by a coffered ceiling, and the other by simple medieval wooden trusses, and is the oldest, corresponding to the portal. The baroque nave on the right preserves the paintings of the Nativity, the Holy Family, the Flight into Egypt, and Christ among the Doctors of the Church.

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Church of the Annunziata or del Carmelo

The church of the Annunziata or of Carmine was built in 1505, adjacent to the ancient convent of the Filippini Fathers, the last resting place of Saint Francesco Caracciolo, who died on 4 June 1608. It has a baroque rather than Renaissance appearance, characterized by a gabled façade divided into two sides with a cornice, and vertically with four pilasters on each side, with Doric capitals. Both the portal and the central window are in line with the axis, although very simple; the bell tower is vaulted, located on the left, and the crowning of the upper triangular architrave is serrated. The altar of the Madonna is the second on the right, and houses an eighteenth-century statue of Columbus, adorned with a crown, holding the Child in one hand and a flower in the other. The decorations of the single nave show Baroque splendour, with projecting columns adorned with golden Ionic capitals, and a mixed plaster between pink and white. The main altar shows a niche with the crowned Madonna between Jesus and a saint.

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Church of Maiella

The church is located outside the historic center of Agnone and more precisely in via Don Bosco. Both the church and the adjacent convent were built by decision of San Pietro Celestino. With the building of the church of Santa Maria a Maiella in Agnone the Franciscan way of life was established and everything dates back to a period between 1100 and 1200, a period in which its consecration is also included. With the presence of the Franciscan friars in this convent the possibility was created so that part of the saint's relics consisting of a piece of the tunic and some hair could be kept inside the church. The presence of the friars continued until 1807, when the order was abolished. The interior of the church consists of a single nave which houses multiple recently composed paintings while unfortunately only ruins remain of the convent. The façade of the church was rebuilt in the year 1755 on the basis of a date engraved on a large window and in all likelihood, always adhering to another date present in the liturgical complex, this building was adapted into a lazaret when Agnone was struck by a plague.

Church of San Giacomo Apostolo

The small but precious Church of San Giacomo Apostolo, also called the SS. Trinità was built in the 13th century but its bell tower dates back to 1895. It is located in Piazza Plebiscito, where the main road routes of Agnone converge. The Governor's Palace (formerly the Magistrate's Court) and the Palazzo dei Conti Martisciano (later Bonanni) also overlook the same square, facing each other, with a splendid Catalan portal.

Church of San Francesco

The church of San Francesco is considered a national monument. Dating back to the 14th century, it has a characteristic Gothic portal surmounted by a fascinating rose window. Worth highlighting is the superb drum dome and the original bell tower (with the final part in wrought iron). Inside the church, with decorations by Ambrosio Piazza, there are very rich altars and frescoes by Paolo Gamba from Molise. Adjacent to the church of San Francesco is the former convent of the Conventual Fathers, with a cloister (on whose walls there are frescoes representing the life of San Francesco), home to the municipal library and the permanent exhibition of ancient books with very rare volumes, including including an ancient copy of Plato's Opera Omnia, dating back to the 16th century.

Church of San Giacomo Apostolo #2

The small but precious Church of San Giacomo Apostolo, also called the SS. Trinità was built in the 13th century but its bell tower dates back to 1895. It is located in Piazza Plebiscito, where the main road routes of Agnone converge. The Governor's Palace (formerly the Magistrate's Court) and the Palazzo dei Conti Martisciano (later Bonanni) also overlook the same square, facing each other, with a splendid Catalan portal.

Autumn landscape #3

Church of San Nicola

10th century building, as revealed by a document from Montecassino, although today it has an 18th century appearance. A document from 1083, a donation from the Count of Sangro Gualtiero Borrello, contains the name of the prior of the church at the time, a certain Giovanni, who was a priest, Benedictine monk and "hermit", that is, a hermit living in the hermitage of Capo del Verrino. The façade is simple, in stone ashlars, with a portal decorated with a tiara with the keys of Saint Peter, with a Latin inscription above. The bell tower is a tower with a spire adorned with green and yellow tiles. The interior has a single nave, made up of two carved wooden altars, plus the main one near the presbytery. The division into side chapels shows fake columns alternating with arches, characterized by gilded Ionic capitals. Furthermore, near the presbytery there is a dome, decorated with frescoes of the four evangelists near the columns that support it.

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