Luogo - Religious building
EREMO DI SANT'ONOFRIO AL MORRONE O DI CELESTINO V
Where
Sulmona (L'Aquila)
The hermitage of Sant'Onofrio was enlarged by order of Pietro from Morrone in the last decade of the XIII century; here the monk lived a hermit's life from the 1293 to the beginning of 1294, when he ascended the papal throne with the name of Celestin V.
The hermitage consists of three storeys: on the ground floor there is a porch with a wood ceiling and frescoes of the XV century; on the first floor there are the oratory and the cells of Pietro from Morrone and Roberto from Salle; the second floor is a terrace overlooking the Peligna Valley.
The hermitage is today a pilgrimage destination and many pilgrims go up to the place of worship also for propitiatory rites: for example they rub hurting parts of the body against the walls of the cave, or they bath in the well-water, or pick up pieces of broken-off plaster and twigs of plants that grow in the surroundings of the church, to which they attribute an apotropaic value, or they throw stones from the terrace, as if they were negative influences and pains.
