Palazzo dell'Annunziata

Sulmona's most beautiful building — a hybrid Gothic-Renaissance-Baroque facade on the Corso

The Palazzo dell'Annunziata is the architectural showpiece of Sulmona, a long stone facade on the Corso Ovidio whose Gothic windows, Renaissance reliefs and statues form one of the most photographed compositions in Abruzzo. The building has housed a pilgrim hospital, a confraternity, and now hosts the Civic Museum and the Museum of Sacred Art.

The collections inside cover Roman-era finds from Sulmona and its surroundings, including Republican-era sculptures, mosaics, and inscriptions. The adjoining Baroque church of the Santissima Annunziata is open for occasional services and concerts. Opening hours can be limited — check ahead.

things to do sight architecture historic
A story
The complex began in 1320 as a hospital for pilgrims travelling to the abbey of Pietro da Morrone, the hermit who briefly became Pope Celestine V. Three centuries of additions and rebuildings followed — Gothic windows from the 14th century, Renaissance reliefs from the 15th, a Baroque church alongside in the 18th — and somehow the whole reads as a unified facade. The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake closed it for years; the restoration is now mostly complete.