Rocca di Cambio AQ - Abbazia di Santa Lucia 03

The Abbey of Santa Lucia is an 11th-12th century, Romanesque and

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

-style abbey in the ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of

Rocca di Cambio Rocca di Cambio (locally ''Rocche 'i Cagne'') is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Located in the northern part of the Altopiano delle Rocche, the communal territory is included in the Sirente-Velin ...

, region of

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 ...

, central

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

The abbey is mentioned for the first time in an inventory of the diocese of L'Aquila in 1313. However, it was likely built during the 11th-12th century, in a time where numerous monasteries were being built in Abruzzo. It was located in a plateau crossed by the Via Claudia Nova, between the ancient cities of

Alba Fucens Alba Fucens was an ancient Italic people, Italic town located at elevation at the base of Monte Velino, approximately north of Avezzano, Abruzzo, central Italy. Its ruins can be found in the ''comune'' of Massa d'Albe. The city is largely vis ...

and

Aveia Aveia was an ancient town of the Vestini and Roman former bishopric, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see. Its site is on the Via Claudia Nova, c. 10 km south-east of L'Aquila, N.E. of the modern village of Fossa (Italy), Fossa, in centr ...

, near the town of Fossa. An earthquake in 1703 destroyed most of the monastic complex and the surrounding borough, and forced much of the inhabitants to move to what is now Rocca di Cambio and the localities of Terranera and Fonteavignone.

Description

The sober façade of the church has a Romanesque portal from the 15th century and a small

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

. The edifice is on the Latin cross plan, with a nave and two aisles of nearly the same length, ending in a large presbytery without an apse. In the right wall of the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

is a 15th-century ciborium, with columns and capitals in Gothic-Renaissance style, while the left wall houses a fresco of the ''Last Supper'', episodes of Jesus' life, and the lives of Saints. They date from Among the various figures portrayed in them, one has been identified as the future pope

Celestine V Celestine is a given name and a surname. People Given name * Pope Celestine I (died 432) * Pope Celestine II (died 1144) * Pope Celestine III (c. 1106–1198) * Pope Celestine IV (died 1241) * Pope Celestine V (1215–1296) * Antipop ...

. Other frescoes, dating to the 14th and the early 15th century, are housed in the

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

Sources

* {{Authority control Lucia Romanesque architecture in Abruzzo Gothic architecture in Abruzzo Buildings and structures in the Province of L'Aquila Saint Lucy