Bominaco, the Sistine Chapel of Abruzzo: a secret jewel in the mountains

Nestled among the silent folds of Abruzzo, where the mountains of Abruzzo rise like sentinels of time, stands a small treasure unknown to most: the Abbey of Bominaco. A place that seems suspended between history, art and mysticism, so much so that it deserves a nickname that is not an exaggeration but a promise: the Sistine Chapel of Abruzzo.

A corner of medieval paradise

We are in the municipality of Caporciano, in the province of L'Aquila. Here, where breathtaking views alternate with forgotten villages, the Abbey of Bominaco tells a thousand years of faith and beauty. Founded in the tenth century, the abbey was an important Benedictine center, the spiritual and cultural center of the Abruzzo Middle Ages.

The monastic complex includes two churches: San Pellegrino and Santa Maria Assunta. It is the first, apparently simple on the outside, to preserve one of the most extraordinary pictorial cycles of the Italian fourteenth century.

The enchantment of the frescoes

Entering the oratory of San Pellegrino is like crossing a magical threshold. The walls are completely covered with vivid, intense, incredibly well-preserved frescoes. The sacred stories unfold in a powerful visual narrative: the liturgical calendar, the months of the year, the stories of Christ and the Virgin, the saints and the martyrs. Every detail is a work of art, every color is a whisper of time.

You are out of breath in front of so much mastery. The frescoes, made around 1263, are a triumph of medieval symbologies, which merge faith and everyday life in a universal language. Here, really, painting becomes prayer.

Bominaco and the Scrovegni: two chests, one charm

Visiting the oratory of San Pellegrino, the thought inevitably runs to the Chapel of the Scrovegni of Padua, Giotto's immortal masterpiece. As in the famous Venetian chapel, also in Bominaco the walls are transformed into an illustrated book, where each fresco is a page of faith, humanity, light. Both spaces, although different in style and author, share the same intention: to amaze, to educate, to bring the divine closer to the heart of the people. Where Giotto introduces three-dimensionality and expressiveness, the anonymous master of Bominaco responds with a symbolic density and a breathtaking chromatic richness, as if to enchant the soul more than the eye. They are two sister chapels, born a few decades later, that speak different languages but tell the same medieval wonder.

A place out of time

Bominaco is not only art: it is also silence, nature, spirituality. Visiting the abbey also means enjoying the landscape that surrounds it, with its woods, its hills, and that sense of eternity that only certain places can transmit.

In a fast-paced world, Bominaco invites you to slow down, to look with new eyes, to rediscover the beauty hidden in the small corners of Italy.

Why visit her and how

Because you don't need to go to Rome to feel captivated by the greatness of sacred art. Just climb to this remote corner of Abruzzo and let yourself be conquered by a place that has preserved, intact, centuries of wonder.

Whether you're a history buff, art lover, or just a curious traveler, Bominaco Abbey is a discovery that leaves its mark.

It can be visited by appointment (it is recommended to contact the Pro Loco of Caporciano), for the ticket a small contribution for the guided tour is recommended (worth every penny!).

🌿 IImmersed in nature, between silence and spirituality.

Visitable by appointment (advised to contact the Pro Loco of Caporciano)

🎟 Ticket: Small contribution for the guided tour (worth every penny!)