# Perdonanza Celestiniana: the door on August 28 > A pardon granted in 1294, listed by UNESCO in 2019, still opened every August 28 in a basilica whose restoration won a European Heritage Award. URL: https://myitalia.it/events/perdonanza-celestiniana Last updated: 2026-09-02 The Perdonanza Celestiniana opens the Holy Door of Santa Maria di Collemaggio on the evening of August 28 every year, closes it on the 29th, and has been on the UNESCO representative list of intangible heritage since 2019 under reference 01276. ## A pardon from 1294, still being used The Bull of Forgiveness issued by Celestine V in 1294 granted a plenary indulgence to anyone entering the basilica between the opening and closing of the door, and L'Aquila has kept the observance going every year since. UNESCO inscribed it in 2019 under decision 14.COM 10.b.19, with reference 01276, listing the city and province of L'Aquila as the community that holds it. The 2026 programme ran from August 23 to 30. The fixed points inside it are the Corteo della Bolla, the lighting of the Fire of Morrone and the pilgrim walk, arranged around the two nights when the door is open. ## The door itself The Holy Door is a doorway on the left flank of the basilica, so called since the fifteenth century, with a fresco by Antonio da Atri from 1397 in the lunette above it. It opens on the evening of August 28 and closes on the evening of August 29, which is the anniversary of the coronation. Pietro Angeleri da Morrone was crowned pope in this church on August 29, 1294 as Celestine V. The Bull of Forgiveness came in the same year, and the door has followed its calendar ever since. ## A basilica that had to be rebuilt The 2009 earthquake severely damaged Collemaggio, and the restoration was designed and directed by the heritage authority with sponsorship from Eni under an agreement signed in 2013. It won the European Heritage Award, the Europa Nostra prize, in the conservation category, as the only Italian winner of that edition. The facade is the part people photograph: white and pink local stone, a horizontal top rather than a gable, finished in the first half of the fifteenth century on a site begun in the early 1300s. ## Around it, the Capital of Culture year L'Aquila opened its year as Italian Capital of Culture on January 17, 2026, with more than 300 initiatives and three venues returned to the city: the Teatro Comunale, the Teatro San Filippo and the MuNDA at the Forte Spagnolo. The Perdonanza in that year sat inside a much fuller calendar than usual. What the reconstruction of the city actually looks like now is in [L'Aquila is still being rebuilt](/stories/laquila-is-still-being-rebuilt), and the title itself in [the Capital of Culture pages](/events/capitali-italiane-della-cultura). ## FAQ ### What is the Perdonanza Celestiniana? The annual observance of the pardon granted by Celestine V in his Bull of 1294, kept in L'Aquila without a break since then and inscribed on the UNESCO representative list of intangible cultural heritage in 2019 under reference 01276. ### When does the Holy Door at Collemaggio open? On the evening of August 28 each year, and it closes on the evening of August 29. In 2026 the surrounding programme ran from August 23 to 30, with the Bull procession, the lighting of the Fire of Morrone and the pilgrim walk around those two nights. ### Can you visit the basilica of Collemaggio? Yes. It was severely damaged by the 2009 earthquake and reopened after a restoration run by the heritage authority with Eni sponsorship agreed in 2013, which won the European Heritage Award in the conservation category as the only Italian winner of its edition. ### Why was Celestine V crowned at Collemaggio? Pietro Angeleri da Morrone had the basilica built and was crowned pope there on August 29, 1294, taking the name Celestine V. The pardon he granted that same year is the reason the Holy Door on the left flank of the church still opens every August. ## Sources | Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until | |---|---|---|---| | La Perdonanza Celestiniana dell'Aquila e' iscritta dal 2019 nella Lista rappresentativa del patrimonio culturale immateriale dell'UNESCO (rif. 01276); la tradizione risale alla Bolla del Perdono di Celestino V del 1294 e la manifestazione si tiene in agosto, con l'apertura della Porta Santa di Collemaggio la sera del 28 agosto. | [UNESCO - Intangible Cultural Heritage](https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/celestinian-forgiveness-celebration-01276); [Comitato Perdonanza Celestiniana](https://perdonanza-celestiniana.it/); [Regione Abruzzo - Dipartimento Turismo](https://www.abruzzoturismo.it/it/destinazioni/basilica-di-collemaggio-laquila) | high | 2027-06-30 | | La Basilica di Santa Maria di Collemaggio, gravemente danneggiata dal sisma del 2009, e' stata restaurata dalla Soprintendenza con sponsorizzazione Eni (accordo del 2013) e il restauro ha vinto l'European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra nella categoria Conservazione, unico premiato italiano di quell'edizione. | [Regione Abruzzo - Dipartimento Turismo](https://www.abruzzoturismo.it/it/destinazioni/basilica-di-collemaggio-laquila); [doc 2](https://www.abruzzoturismo.it/it/magazine/laquila-premiato-il-restauro-della-basilica-di-collemaggio) | medium | 2099-12-31 | | L'anno da Capitale italiana della cultura e' stato inaugurato a L'Aquila il 17 gennaio 2026 con un programma di oltre 300 iniziative e la restituzione alla citta' di luoghi simbolo (Teatro Comunale, Teatro San Filippo, MuNDA al Forte Spagnolo). | [Ministero della Cultura](https://cultura.gov.it/comunicato/28576) | medium | 2027-06-30 | ## Image https://media.myitalia.it/media/city.l-aquila.1600.jpg Author: LIAP. License: CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castello_500.JPG ## Other languages - it: https://myitalia.it/it/eventi/perdonanza-celestiniana.md - es: https://myitalia.it/es/eventos/perdonanza-celestiniana.md - fr: https://myitalia.it/fr/evenements/perdonanza-celestiniana.md - de: https://myitalia.it/de/veranstaltungen/perdonanza-celestiniana.md