Points of Interest

The Ideal City of the Renaissance: After the destruction of the medieval centre of Castel San Flaviano at the mouth of the river Tordino, Duke Giulio Antonio Acquaviva founded a new city not far away but higher up the hill around 1471. Fortified to become the ‘gate and defence’ of the Kingdom of Naples and a garrison in defence of the Adriatic, the new border of Christendom, the duke and condottiere gave it his name: Giulia. The mighty walls surrounding it were built using the most modern defensive systems; Even its layout, as well as the main architectural features, starting with the mighty church of Santa Maria in platea, later also soon to be San Flaviano, the first example of an octagonal church in the Adriatic Abruzzo region and equipped with a daring dome that chronologically precedes that of San Pietro, refer to the most up-to-date humanistic reflections, with the clear organisation of spaces, specialised gates and squares, sacred buildings each connected to its own urban environment. The extraordinary originality, the refined mathematical-proportional language, as well as the complex political-military and civil meanings present in the foundation plan, make Giulianova the first experiment in the foundation of an ‘Ideal City’.

On the square with its characteristic knife-blade shape, conceived as the setting in which the grandeur of the Acquaviva dynasty was to be manifested, stands the ducal palace with its small tower facing the sea and the Collegiate Church or Cathedral of San Flaviano, the symbol of the city.

The Polo Museale and the ‘Vincenzo Bindi’ Civic Art Gallery “: for the variety and articulation of its collections, it is counted among the museums of national interest. The museum was created thanks to the donation made by the illustrious scholar of Abruzzo art and culture Vincenzo Bindi (Giulianova 1852 – Naples 1928), with his wide-ranging and diverse interests, who left his cultural and life heritage to Giulianova, consisting of the old family palazzo on Corso Garibaldi and, inside it, the personal library containing over 5. 000 volumes and autographed documents, now in the ‘Vincenzo Bindi’ municipal library, and in the valuable collection of hundreds of works of art, now the ‘Vincenzo Bindi’ civic art gallery.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Splendour: it stands on the city’s hilltop to the north and is one of the best-known Marian sites in central and southern Italy. Of remote foundation, which can be placed between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the following century, at the same time as the construction of Giulia, the sanctuary of the Splendour was created following the apparition of the Madonna surrounded by light on an elm tree to a humble peasant named Bertolino; in her last apparition, the Virgin, appearing to all the people who had come to the hill, caused a spring of water to gush from the foot of the tree, which is still active today and is believed to be miraculous, and which is now located at the high altar.