Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata, Sulmona

The Church of the Most Holy Annunciation overlooks Corso Ovidio, the main city street of Sulmona; the founding date dates back to 1320 but no traces of the ancient structure remain, destroyed by the earthquakes of 1456 and 1706.

The façade, newly built by the Pescolano Norberto Ciccio at the beginning of the 18th century, is divided into two orders and features two pairs of projecting paired columns that vertically divide the space into three parts; the broken curved tympanum and the connecting volutes complete the upper part of the façade.

The reconstruction of the interior was entrusted to the Bergamasque architect Pietro Fantoni who created a dome with a lantern over the presbytery area. The plan is divided into three naves, the central one vaulted with a barrel vault and the lateral ones surmounted by small domes; the decorative apparatus was created by the stucco artist Giovanni Battista Gianni, the carver Norberto Ciccio, and the painter Giovanbattista Gamba.

The church underwent two restoration interventions in the 20th century: in the 1960s the decorative elements were restored, in the 1980s structural consolidation and interior repainting were carried out.