The church of St. Peter in Roccascalegna, in the province of Chieti, will once again welcome the faithful and visitors. The date is therefore set for 6 p.m., with a ceremony that will include religious celebrations, institutional speeches and a community moment in the churchyard. Exactly 10 years ago, on March 20, 2015, the detachment of a boulder had caused a landslide that compromised the stability of the rocky outcrop on which the ancient medieval castle stands. What had collapsed was a substantial portion of the rock face that dominates the Sangro Valley and overlooks the Rio Secco valley, right in the area on which the church’s apse is located. As reported by the Casoli.org blog, the reopening marks a new stage in the complex history of the monument, which had already experienced periods of closure in the past. The first interruption was in 1984, when the May 7 earthquake had forced the suspension of activities and the start of recovery work. On that occasion, the church remained closed for 17 years, until 2001, when it became usable again thanks to an articulated consolidation operation.
September’s is thus the second official reopening in just over two decades, a fact that confirms the fragility but also the symbolic value of the place of worship, at the center of the religious and cultural life of the community. The path leading to the new opening was long and complex. After the collapse in 2015, the priority was to secure the landslide area, located just below one corner of the sacred building. Once the consolidation of the rock and basic structures was completed, it was possible to proceed with the actual restoration of the church, which involved both architectural and decorative aspects. The goal was to restore stability and usability to the monument, while ensuring the preservation of the historical and artistic heritage housed within it.
The opening ceremony is opened by the celebration of Holy Mass, presided over by Archbishop Bruno Forte. This will be followed by speeches by Fr. Elson Jerald Mathavadiyan, pastor of the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, Roccascalegna Mayor Domenico Giangiordano, and ABAP Superintendent Chiara Delpino. Also taking the floor will be the technicians who led the recovery operations: Aldo Giorgio Pezzi, Eliseba De Leonardis and Sandro Bonetti, members of the Construction Management team. The day will end with a convivial moment outdoors, in the churchyard, designed as an opportunity for the community to share.
As written by Casoli.org, a relevant aspect of the long recovery process concerns the contribution of two professionals originally from Casoli, who played a decisive role in the different phases of the restoration work, carried out by the Edilrocca srl company. The first is the architect Maria Carmela Ricci, who had already signed the design of the extraordinary maintenance and structural consolidation works between 1996 and 2000, carried out thanks to state and regional funds, as well as resources collected by the parish then led by Don Giorgio Falzoni. It was in that context that the application of carbon fiber ribbons to restore the vaults of the nave, an innovative technique for the time, was tested for the first time in Abruzzo, carried out by the company Tec.Inn of Perugia. The second figure is restorer Mary Serraiocco, who oversaw the pictorial recovery of the chapel of St. Anthony and other paintings partially resurfaced during the cognitive investigations. This work restored legibility to otherwise compromised decorations and will be visible to the public precisely on the occasion of the reopening.
“In the restoration we have preserved the existing and brought to light details hidden during the long life of the church,” writes restorer Serraiocco on her Linkedin profile.
The attention given to the church of St. Peter is part of a context of safeguarding the cultural heritage of the area, characterized by a landscape strongly marked by the presence of rock and an urban fabric of medieval origin. The geological fragility of the site has repeatedly imposed complex and costly interventions, but at the same time made clear the importance of prevention and planned maintenance. The case of Roccascalegna thus confirms how natural risk management is a crucial issue for the protection of cultural heritage.
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| St. Peter's church in Roccascalegna (Chieti, Italy) reopens ten years after rock collapse |
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