Cathedral of San Flaviano

The Church or Cathedral of San Flaviano is without a doubt the most representative church of Giulianova. It is located in Giulianova Paese in the central Piazza Buozzi and is consecrated to the Patriarch Saint of Constantinople whose remains, according to a legendary reconstruction, instead of arriving in Ravenna would have arrived in Giulianova in the 5th century due to a disastrous storm.

The construction of the Duomo should date back to 1472, that is when Giulia Nuova began to be founded, but was completed only in the early sixteenth century. It highlights the typically Renaissance features and its octagonal structure is a distinctive sign that makes it recognizable throughout Abruzzo along with the huge dome with a semispherical dome surmounted by a small lantern, also octagonal, on which is placed an iron cross from big dimensions. Under the Church's hall there is a crypt with a ceiling that was considered a masterpiece of engineering and initially intended for worship and after the preservation of the saint's remains.

In the late Renaissance, the church was embellished with frescoes and decorations in a coeval style, and subsequently underwent many restorations that, among other things, led to the removal of the decorations in the Baroque style that reconciled the Renaissance style to make regain to the Church the sixteenth-century simplicity.

Today it is characterized by the considerable number of works it contains: on the left altar there is the beautiful marble sculpture (Madonna with Child) by Venanzo Crocetti, the stupendous bronze Crucifix of 1959, also by Crocetti, placed on the main altar to the right of which is the Baptistery in historiated travertine The Baptism of Jesus in bronze; moreover you can admire a valuable Altar in Trani stone dominated by a bronze group representing the Crucifix, the Virgin and Saint Flavian.

Also illustrations of the Via Crucis are made of charcoal from Aligi Sassu. On one of the external walls of the Cathedral, a memorial plaque was put up for the citizens of Giulianova who fell during the First World War, which presents the names carved together with the proclamation of victory emanating from the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces. Finally, the headstone is surmounted by a large bronze eagle executed by Ulderico Ulizio, a pupil of the well-known Giuliese sculptor Raffaello Pagliaccetti.