Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie, Teramo

Outside the east city gate opens the large square with the convent and the church of the Madonna delle Grazie, co-patroness of Teramo. The complex was probably founded in the 11th-12th century as an offshoot of the important city monastery of Benedictine nuns of “Sant’Angelo delle donne.” It was Saint James of the Marches who ordered the enlargement in 1448 of the structures to house the Franciscans, also donating the splendid Virgin with Child, a sculpture by Silvestro dell’Aquila, which can still be admired today at the main altar. The restorations carried out between the late 19th century and early 20th century involved the brick facade with portico and the interior, laid out in a Latin cross with side chapels and dome, decorated by Cesare Mariani in 1897. The Romanesque cloister remains partially original in appearance. Remarkable is the detached fresco with the Majesty and saints set within a 15th-century architecture with pediment, preserved in a side chapel and attributed to Pietro Alemanno from Bologna.