L'Aquila Cathedral () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of the Province of L'Aquila and the Abruzzo region in Italy. , it has a population of 69,902. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valley of the A ...

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

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 ...

, dedicated to Saint

Maximus of Aveia Saint Maximus of Aveia (died c. 250 AD) (sometimes also known as ''Saint Maximus of Aquila'') is one of the patron saints of L'Aquila, Italy. Life He was born in Aveia, currently known as Fossa (Italy), Fossa. As a deacon, he was martyred for ...

and

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

. It is the episcopal seat of the Archdiocese of L'Aquila.

History

The cathedral was originally built in the 13th century and destroyed in the earthquake of 1703. It was restored in the 19th century and restored further in the 20th.''Abruzzo'', Touring Club Italiano 2015, p.93 More recently, it was seriously damaged in the earthquake of 2009, and is presently deemed unfit for use (2023). In the wake of this earthquake, ecclesial functions were temporarily transferred to the Basilica of

Santa Maria di Collemaggio Santa Maria di Collemaggio is a large medieval church in L'Aquila, central Italy. It was the site of the original Jubilee (Christian), Papal Jubilee, a penitential observation devised by Pope Celestine V, who is buried there. The church, which the ...

, which had also sustained damages. After August 2013, since the basilica was also closed for worship due to rebuilding works, the ecclesial functions were transferred once again to the Basilica of San Giuseppe Artigiano, not far from the cathedral, which following the same earthquake, had been rebuilt and reopened in July 2012. Reconstruction and restoration works on the cathedral commenced on 28 February 2023, after a lengthy planning process, and are projected to last for 5 years.

Notes and references

Sources

*''Abruzzo''. Guide Verdi. Touring Club Italiano, 2015. Buildings and structures in L'Aquila

Neoclassical architecture in Abruzzo Neoclassical church buildings in Italy {{Italy-RC-cathedral-stub