Hermitage of Sant’Onofrio al Morrone or of Celestine V, Sulmona

The Hermitage of Sant’Onofrio was expanded by the will of Pietro da Morrone in the last decade of the 13th century; here the monk lived a hermitic life from 1293 until the early months of 1294, when he was elected to the papal throne under the name Celestine V.

The hermitage is spread over three levels: on the ground floor a loggia with a wooden ceiling and 15th-century frescoes, on the first floor the oratory and the cells of Pietro da Morrone and Roberto di Salle, on the second floor a panoramic terrace overlooking the Peligna valley.

The place of worship is a destination for pilgrimages and propitiatory rites, such as rubbing painful body parts on the cave walls, ablution in the well that collects dripping water, the collection of dust, debris and twigs from plants growing around the sanctuary, which are attributed apotropaic value, and the throwing of stones from the terrace, symbolizing negative influences and pain.