On the last Sunday of the month, L’Aquila’s private cultural heritage takes center stage with “Palazzi Aperti,” an initiative organized by ADSI Abruzzo andthe Angelo de Nardis ETS Association. As part of L’Aquila’s designation as the Italian Capital of Culture, the event offers a chance to discover the widespread beauty hidden behind the doors of L’Aquila’s palaces. A new feature of the July 26 opening will be the guided tour “Singing Stones—Symbols and Messages of L’Aquila’s Courtyards.” Among the most distinctive features of L’Aquila’s historic palaces is, in fact, the culture of the courtyard: sometimes a grand entrance hall, sometimes an intimate cloister, sometimes punctuated by arcades and terraces, and sometimes a silent guardian of ancient legacies. For this reason, the “Palazzi Aperti” program must include a tour that allows visitors to discover some of the most significant courtyards, looking beyond mere architectural details: searching for the animals and symbols hidden among the leaves on the capitals, recognizing the most ancient motifs concealed beneath the sumptuous layers of white stone, and discerning coats of arms and emblems—especially when they become messages meant to transcend the centuries.

The day will conclude in a courtyard—that of the 14th-century Palazzo Piccirilli-Bucciarelli, which houses some of L’Aquila’s most precious medieval artifacts—with the concert “Naples and Abruzzo—The Abruzzese Masters of the Romanza in Naples.” The concert, which is free to the public, is organized bythe Euterpe Music Association.

Due to high demand, Palazzo Nardis—which has been inhabited by the same family for 750 years and still preserves artifacts and furnishings from bygone eras—will also reopen its doors for guided tours, as well as Palazzo Alfieri, an extraordinary Renaissance palace preserved in its 15th-century form, now cared for by the Franciscan sisters of the Santa Maria degli Angeli Institute.

Finally, there will be the usual guided tours of the art spaces at Palazzo Benedetti, whose frescoed halls are currently hosting the exhibition “With Hands Stained with Earth, I Kissed You” by Lea Contestabile, as well as at the Oratory of the Knights of Nardis, a masterpiece of Abruzzese Baroque architecture. In the same oratory, at 6:00 p.m., Silvia Mantini will give a lecture, organized by Archeoclub L’Aquila, titled “Society and Culture in L’Aquila During the Spanish Period.” Reservations for the lecture can be made by emailing archeoclublaquila@gmail.com.

DETAILED PROGRAM

GUIDED TOURS

• Walking Tour : “Singing Stones” – Symbols and Messages from L’Aquila’s Courtyards | 5:00 p.m.
• Palazzo Nardis – Via San Marciano, 9 | 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
• Palazzo Alfieri – Via Fortebraccio, 54 | 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
• Oratory of the Knights of Nardis – Via San Marciano | 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
• Palazzo Benedetti – Via Sassa, 15 | 10 a.m.–1 p.m. and 4–8 p.m. (includes a guided tour of the temporary exhibition “With My Hands Stained with Earth, I Kissed You” by Lea Contestabile)

CONFERENCE

Oratory of the Knights of Nardis | 6:00 p.m.
SOCIETY AND CULTURE IN L’AQUILA DURING THE SPANISH PERIOD (16th–17th CENTURIES)
Silvia Mantini (University of L’Aquila)
Organized by Archeoclub L’Aquila

CONCERT

Palazzo Piccirilli-Bucciarelli | 9:00 p.m.
NAPLES AND THE ABRUZZO – The Abruzzo Masters of the Romanza in Naples
Jolanta Stanelyte, soprano · Francesco Marsiglia, tenor · Guido Galterio, piano
Organized by the Associazione Musicale Euterpe