Santa Maria del Suffragio (L'Aquila)

The church of Anime Sante before being damaged in the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake.

Santa Maria del Suffragio, commonly called the church of Anime Sante (Blessed Souls), is an 18th-century church in L'Aquila, central Italy.

It was begun on October 10, 1713, ten years after the 1703 L'Aquila earthquake damaged the Confraternita del Suffragio's former seat.

The Roman architect Carlo Buratti was charged with the work. In 1770 Gianfrancesco Leomporri added a Baroque façade, and years later, in 1805, the church was completed with a neoclassical dome by Giuseppe Valadier.

Being one of the most important churches of the city, Santa Maria del Suffragio also became one of the main symbols of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake when, on April 6, 2009, it suffered serious damages and its dome was almost entirely pulled down by the quake.

See also

• 2009 L'Aquila earthquake

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Santa Maria del Suffragio (L'Aquila).

• The church of Anime Sante (Italian)
• YouTube video showing the dome's collapse (Italian)

Coordinates: 42°20′54″N 13°23′53″E / 42.34839°N 13.39792°E / 42.34839; 13.39792