The Abbey of Santa Maria della Vittoria (Italian: ''L’abbazia di Santa Maria della Vittoria'') was a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery located in

Scurcola Marsicana Scurcola Marsicana is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is located at the feet of Mount San Nicola, on the western rim of the former Fucine Lake. History The most ancient findings of hum ...

Province of L'Aquila The province of L'Aquila () is the largest, most mountainous and least densely populated Provinces of Italy, province of the Abruzzo region of Italy. It comprises about half the landmass of Abruzzo and occupies the western part of the region. It ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

Scurcola Marsicana AQ - Chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria 07

The abbey was built by

Charles I of Naples Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. He was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily. Between 1246 and ...

(Carlo d'Anjou) to celebrate the victory in the

Battle of Tagliacozzo The Battle of Tagliacozzo was fought on 23 August 1268 between the Ghibelline supporters of Conradin of Hohenstaufen and the Guelph army of Charles of Anjou. The battle represented the last act of Hohenstaufen power in Italy. The capture and e ...

against the Hohenstaufen Duke of Swabia

Conradin Conrad III (25 March 1252 – 29 October 1268), called ''the Younger'' or ''the Boy'', but usually known by the diminutive Conradin (, ), was the last direct heir of the House of Hohenstaufen. He was Duke of Swabia (1254–1268) and nominal King ...

, to control the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...

. The construction started in 1274, and in 1277 the abbey hosted the first monks, recruited only from the French mother Abbey of Louroux in

Vernantes Vernantes () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. See also *Communes of the Maine-et-Loire department The following is a list of the 176 communes of the Maine-et-Loire department of France France, officia ...

(

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France *County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France ** Du ...

), places of origin of large part of the soldiers involved in the battle. The church was consecrated on May 12, 1278 and it was definitively completed in 1282. Over more than a century the abbey thrived, but the fortunes fell with the extinction of the line of Anjou from the rule of Sicily (and Naples) that distinctly occurred in 1442 with the ascension of

Alfonso V of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alfons el Magnànim in Catalan language, Catalan) (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfons V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfons I) from 1442 until his ...

to the that kingship. The Cistercian monks were soon replaced by Italian

Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...

. The monastic complex was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1502, and abandoned in 1550. Fragments of the ruins were utilized in the construction of the present church and other buildings.https://www.cistercensi.info/abbazie/abbazie.php?ab=565

Architecture

Nowadays the abbey is completely destroyed. Two portals of the original church can be found in different churches of Scurcola Marsicana: the new church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, close to the

Rocca Orsini Rocca Orsini (Italian for ''Stronghold of Orsini family'') is a Middle Ages castle in Scurcola Marsicana, Province of L'Aquila (Abruzzo). History Rocca Orsini is located on the highest part of Scurcola Marsicana. It is composed by different s ...

, and the Sant’Antonio church, along the

Via Tiburtina Via Tiburtina is an ancient road in Italy leading east-northeast from Rome to Tivoli (Latin: Tibur) and then, with the Via Valeria, on to Pescara (Latin: Aternum). Historical road It was probably built by the Roman censor Marcus Valerius ...

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{Authority control Maria della Vittoria Scurcola Marsicana