Cathedral of St. Pelin (Corfinio)

The first basilica was built over the grave of St. Pelin , Bishop of Brindisi , a martyr during the time of Emperor Julian the Apostate , who was buried in the area of ​​the city of Corfinius , the former capital of the Italian peoples who rebelled against Rome . According to legend, the construction of the temple is associated with Chipriote, a student of St. Pelin. During the reign of the Lombards, the city ​​became known as Valva. After the attacks of the Arabs in 881 and the Hungarians in 937, the city ​​fell into decay.

In 1075, Bishop Trazmondo, a supporter of Pope Gregory VII , as evidenced by the Casauri Chronicle , restored the basilica along with the Church of St. Pamphilius in Sulmon , hiring the workers who had previously built the Abbey of San Liberatore a Maiella . This work was interrupted in 1092 . By this time, a transept was built with the apse of the oratorio Sant'Alessandro, erected on the right side of the church of San Pelino, where the relics of St. Pope Alexander I were laid (109-119).

The work was resumed and completed by Bishop Gwaltiero in 1104–1124, who solemnly consecrated the cathedral in 1124 . The church was again consecrated in 1181 during the acquisition of the relics of St. Pelino. In 1229, the building was burned, after the restoration of Justino from Chieti, whose name and date of completion of the restoration, 1235 , are carved on the wall of the temple. By the end of the XIII century, he finally received the status of the Cathedral of the Bishopric.

Repeatedly destroyed by earthquakes, the interior of the church was rebuilt in the Baroque style of the 17th and 18th centuries. These additions and reconstructions were completely removed after the restoration work of the 1970s, which returned the building to its original Romanesque appearance. Restorers removed the dome with a drum and restored the wooden roof over the central nave .

Church of St. Pelin

The facade consists of two separate parts, built in different eras. The lower part consists of two blind arches and a central portal decorated with friezes and volutes , framed by two pilasters , and crowned with a lunette . The upper part is devoid of any decorative elements. Another portal is on the left side of the temple.

The church has three naves, separated by columns that support lancet arches, and a transept. The nave ends with an apse of the 13th century, while the other two apse are in the outer part of the transept.

Of particular historical and artistic value are:

• the stone image of the Madonna with a blessing baby, which is located in a niche on the left side of the transept;
• a pulpit chair in the central nave, built between 1168 and 1188 by Bishop Oderisio da Riano, which was dismantled in the Baroque era and restored in the last century;
• fragments of 13th century frescoes, some of which belong to the brush of the miniaturist Maestro Bominaco
• choirs leading to the presbytery, created in 1738 by Ferdinando Mosca .

Oratorio of St. Alexander

The oratorio, which starts from the main building of the basilica and ends with a defensive tower, was erected on the right side of the church of St. Pelin to house the relics of Pope Alexander I (109–119), although the burial place of the pontiff was not identified.

Ends with a rectangular apse. The question of the origin of the building is still being discussed by experts. Some believe that this is a transept of the still not built large church of Bishop Trazmond. The interior of the building is divided into four compartments with a cross vault. Apse is decorated with 13th-century frescoes depicting saints.

• St. Pelino Cathedral on Concapeligna.it (Italian)
• St. Pelino Cathedral at Italia nell'Arte medievale
• St. Pelino Cathedral on Regione Abruzzo
• Image of the cathedral (1) e Image of the cathedral (2)

• Corfinio
• Cathedral of Saint Pamphilius (Sulmona)
• Diocese of Sulmon Valva