Welcome to Sulmona and the lands of Abruzzo! Before starting the exhibition tour, you can listen to some information about the city of Sulmona.

Located in a wide basin in central Abruzzo, between the highest mountains of the Apennines, Sulmona is surrounded by a beautiful landscape that provides a perfect backdrop to the monumental richness of its historic centre. Its origins are shrouded in legend: according to tradition, ancient Sulmo, first an Italic oppidum and then a Roman municipality, was founded by Solimo, a companion of Aeneas. It is the homeland of the great Latin poet Ovid Nason, who was born in 43 BC and died in 17 AD. He immortalised his origins in the famous emblem ‘Sulmo mihi patria est’, whose initials appeared on the town’s coat of arms since the Middle Ages. The city had particular fortune at the time of the Swabians, to the point that it became the capital of the region: it used to host one of the seven fairs of the Kingdom, the Giustizierato d’Abruzzo, as well as renowned goldsmith’s workshops. In the following centuries, despite experiencing ups and downs due to internal struggles and with neighbouring communities, it remained an important artisanal and commercial centre.

It is the birthplace of important men of culture and of Pope Innocent VII. In the 16th century, Charles V gave it as a feud to Charles de Lannoy. Then, it passed to the Conca and Borghese families. The ancient core of the settlement boasts valuable monuments. Inside the medieval walls, some of which are still well-preserved, you can enjoy unusual glimpses of the landscape offered by stately palaces, religious buildings and simple dwellings, all embellished with windows, portals and gables that still retain the charm of bygone days and bear witness to the past grandeur.

Among the various traditions and events in Sulmona, some of them are related to the Holy Week. Firstly, the procession of the ‘Dead Christ’, organised by the Archconfraternity of the Holy Trinity, which takes place on the evening of Good Friday and sees the participation of hundreds of brethren dressed in the traditional red robe with white wimple. Secondly, the event of the ‘Madonna running away’, organized by the Confraternity of St Mary of Loreto, where thousands of people from Sulmona gather in the large square to watch the ancient performance on Easter morning, anxiously waiting for the moment in which the grieving mother frees herself from the grappling and amidst a flight of pigeons, bursts of firecrackers, ringing of bells and frenzied applause, begins the race towards her risen Son dressed in her resplendent green robe.

A must-see is the re-enactment of the ancient Chivalric Joust that takes place on the grounds of the spacious Piazza Garibaldi in the last week of July, where seven knights representing the city’s boroughs and districts compete in a contest of speed and dexterity that over the years has become increasingly popular on a European level. Sulmona is world famous for the manufacture of sugared almonds, whose production started as early as the 15th century in the Monastery of Santa Chiara. Not only good to taste but also beautiful to look at, Sulmona sugared almonds are used to compose flowers, baskets, spikes, bunches. Several production centres are still active in the town and an old Art Nouveau factory, which is located near the train station of Introdacqua, is also home to the Museum of Confectionery Art and Technology, which preserves old documents, confectionery boxes, machines and tools for confectionery production.

The convent building of Santa Chiara currently houses the Diocesan Cultural Centre on the first level. Some of the rooms on the ground floor, the inner chapel and the vast refectory are used as an exhibition space for the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art. Three other rooms are reserved for the Diocesan Library, in whose reading room, which is set up in the former parlor, it is still possible to admire the gratings with carved stone displays behind which the Poor Clares used to meet their relatives. The remaining rooms display the modern and contemporary art collection of the Municipal Art Gallery, which is connected to the International Exhibition of Contemporary Art that takes place annually in the city. Another room houses the artistic Nativity scene made by Enzo Mosca, an artist born in Sulmona.

A number of didactic panels aimed at primary school children and people with disabilities are placed along the museum’s exhibition route, so as to enable them to visit the museum in an appropriate manner. These panels are made with ‘easy to read’ texts characterised by simplicity and accessibility. In the entrance hall, a dedicated video will present some images of Sulmona and the Santa Chiara museum complex. You can now pause the audio guide.

If you walk along the corridor to the right of the cloister, you can reach the second point of the audio guide, which is located near the educational panel that also reproduces the map of the complex. The works of art exhibited on the walls of the cloister are part of the Municipal Gallery and will be covered later in the audio guide. Before listening to the second section, you can watch an explanatory video dedicated to the monastic complex of Santa Chiara. Enjoy!