The façade of the Palace of the Santissima Annunziata

We find ourselves before a very singular ensemble that harmoniously blends the Gothic-Renaissance forms of the Palace with the Baroque of the Church. The front of the Palace was completed in three successive phases: the first, which dates back to 1415, with the door of the clock and the overlooking three-light window in floral Gothic; the second, with the Chapel door and the three-light window with Renaissance traits, completed between 1451 and 1471; the third sector, with the apothecary’s door and the last three-light window, made by master Bartolomeo and completed between 1512 and 1522. Despite being made in different periods, the rich belt course represents a unifying architectural element.

On the façade of the Palace there are seven statues representing, in order from left to right, St Gregory the Great, St Bonaventure, St Augustine and St Jerome, Doctors of the Church, San Panfilo, the protector of Sulmona, St Peter and St Paul. A small bell gable, built by craftsmen from Pescocostanzo after the 1706 earthquake, surmounts the clock and completes the perspective structure of the complex.

The church, which was largely destroyed by the earthquake of 1706, was rebuilt starting in 1711 by Norberto Cicco from Pescocostanzo, following a design by the Milanese Pietro Fantoni.

Let’s continue the visit by returning to the Palace courtyard. At the end of the hallway, along with the coats of arms of the Annunziata and Lannoy family, there is a 15th century statue of the poet Ovid.