Editing L'Aquila (section)

==Main sights==
[[File:Castello 500.JPG|thumb|right|The Spanish fort.]]
[[File:L'Aquila, Basilica di San Bernardino 2007 by-RaBoe-1.jpg|thumb|Basilica of San Bernardino]]

Although less than an hour-and-a-half drive from Rome, and popular with Romans for summer hiking and winter skiing in surrounding mountains, the city is sparsely visited by tourists. Among the sights are:

===Religious buildings===
*[[L'Aquila Cathedral]]: main church dedicated to Saint [[Maximus of Aveia]] (San Massimo), was built in the 13th century, but razed after the 1703 earthquake. The most recent façade dated from the 19th century, but the earthquake of 2009 and subsequent aftershocks collapsed parts of the [[transept]] and possibly more of the cathedral.
*[[Basilica of San Bernardino]] (1472): church has a fine [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] façade by [[Nicola Filotesio]] (commonly called Cola dell'Amatrice), and contains the monumental tomb of the saint (1480), decorated with sculptures, and executed by Silvestro Ariscola.<ref name="EB1911"/>
*[[Santa Maria di Collemaggio]]: church just outside the town, has a very fine, but simple, Romanesque façade (1270–1280) in red and white marble, with three decorated portals and a rose-window above each. The two side doors are also fine. The interior contains the mausoleum of [[Pope Celestine V]] erected in 1517.<ref name="EB1911"/>
*[[Santa Giusta (L'Aquila)|Santa Giusta]]: Romanesque façade with Gothic rose window
*[[San Silvestro, L'Aquila|San Silvestro]]: 14th-century Romanesque façade with Gothic rose window
*[[Santi Marciano e Nicandro, L'Aquila|Chiesa dei Santi Marciano e Nicandro]]: a 13th century church

===Secular buildings===
*[[Forte Spagnolo|Spanish fort (''Forte Spagnolo'')]]: massive castle in the highest part of the town, erected in 1534 by the Spanish viceroy [[Don Pedro de Toledo]]. In 2016, home to the [[Museo Nazionale d'Abruzzo|National Museum of Abruzzo]].
*''Fontana Luminosa'' ("Luminous Fountain"): a 1930s sculpture of two women bearing large jars.
*''Fontana delle novantanove cannelle'' (1272): a fountain with ninety-nine jets distributed along three walls. The source of the fountain is still unknown. 
*''L'Aquila cemetery'': includes grave of [[Karl Heinrich Ulrichs]], 19th‑century German [[LGBT rights by country or territory|gay rights]] pioneer who lived in L'Aquila; every year, [[Homosexuality|gay people]] from all over the world meet at the cemetery to honour his memory.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-08-23|title=L'Aquila, il ricordo di Karl Heinrich Ulrichs|url=https://www.ilcapoluogo.it/2019/08/23/laquila-il-ricordo-di-karl-heinrich-ulrichs/|access-date=2020-11-18|website=Il Capoluogo|language=it}}</ref>
* [[Palazzetto dei Nobili|Palace of Nobles]]
*''Roman ruins of [[Amiternum]]'': ruins of an Ancient Roman city

Also nearby are several [[ski resort]]s like [[Gran Sasso d'Italia]], the highest of the [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]] where in its valley the movie ''[[The Name of the Rose (film)|The Name of the Rose]]'' was filmed in the end of the 1980s. The town also contains some fine palaces: the municipality has a museum, with a collection of Roman inscriptions and some illuminated service books. The Palazzi Dragonetti and Persichetti contain private collections of pictures.<ref name="EB1911"/>