L’Aquila, Earthquake, Capoluogo d’Abruzzo, Terremoto, Perdonanza, Porta Santa, Celestino V, Federico II, Giubileo, G8 L’Aquila 2009

The young people who stroll up and down the main street under the porticoes in the winter to shelter from the mountain wind lashing the city may think that life Is all too laid-back here. Yet, L’Aquila is the crossroads for the destiny of popes and emperors. This main street is named after two “founding fathers”: Frederick II of Swabia and Victor Emanuel II of Savoy.

The former decided to found the city, a sort of last mountain outpost of his southern kingdom among other castels, like the beautiful Rocca Calascio. The latter united the city to the Kingdom of Italy in 1860 with the high-sounding nome of “Aquila degli Abruzzi”. Another great historical figure also left his mark here. The impressive Spanish fortress bears the coat of arms of Charles V, the king upon whose empire the sun never set.Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor with a secular mentality, designed Aquila (Eagle in english) (L’Aquila since 1936) imagining that he might build a New Jerusalem here, in the middle of Italy (against e near to Rome – e.o.n.). He had married the 13 years-old Iolanda of Brienne, daughter of a crusader king and princess of Jerusalem. The fountain of 99 spouts. He arranged the most important buildings in such a way as to show the outline of the constellation of the Eagle (it symbolizes the “new spiritual age” and the coat of arms of Swabia empire. Eagle is only animal that can watch the Sun – e.o.n.): two trapezoid shapes joined along one of base, hence its name. He meant to join together the area’s villages, 99 according to tradition, each of which was “represented” by a district in the city itself.

The fountain of 99 spouts

To commemorate this foundation, the red and white (Templars colors) fountain with its masks was later built, now known as the “Ninety-nine Spouts”. 99 is however a cabalist number, the result of the sum of the geographical co-ordinates of the Duomo in the city centre, with a latitude of 42°,21 and longitude of 13°,23 (from the book “The revelation of L’Aquila – by Luca Ceccarelli & Paolo Cautilli). A curious coincidence, which certainly had nothing to do with the great Frederick. His sons, the legitimate heir Corrado IV and his illegitimate son Manfredi, made and unmade the city. Corrado, Iolanda’s son, erected building for this “New Jerusalem”, in the few years that fate allowed him. After his death the city went over to the Guelphs in alliance with the pope. Collemaggio Abbey Manfredi, born from Frederick’s love affair with Bianca Lancia and having his father’s secular orientation, destroyed the city that had gone over to the enemy, in an attempt to reconstruct the Ghibelline party and restore imperial autority. He put everything he had into this endeavour. “Blond was he, beautiful, and noble aspect, but one of his eye-brown had a blow devided (Purgatory. III 107-108); this is how Dante described him.

Summer solstice in Collemaggio abbey

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