Back to L’Aquila (2). The church of Santa Maria del Suffragio

As was the case on a much larger scale in Sicily after the devastating earthquake of 1693, the 1703 seism in L’Aquila in Abruzzo was also the occasion for the construction of religious buildings in the Baroque style. Thus, Santa Maria del Suffragio was built by the brotherhood of the Souls of Purgatory (Anime del Purgatorio) to replace their destroyed church, moving it close to the duomo despite opposition from the archbishop, who did not want a place of worship so close to the cathedral for fear that it would compete with it.
In 2009, the city was once again hit by a violent earthquake that saw the monument’s dome collapse (ill. 1).