Montemonaco - Montemonaco

Montemonaco is a city of Marche.

To know

Geographical notes

The municipality of Montemonaco rises in the Aso valley, in the Marche southern, on a plateau near the Monte Zampa and al Monte Sibilla at 998 m a.s.l. (second largest municipality in the region) .Near the town there are numerous mountains such as Massif of the Vector with the Lake of Pilate, i Reliefs of the Argentella, the Devil's Lace, the Borghese Palace, the Monte Porche, which form the natural and administrative boundary between Marche is Umbria to the east and with the municipality of Montefortino North.

When to go

During the whole year; fascinating in the winter season, when often exceptional snowfalls completely cover it, highlighting the surrounding landscape even more. In the summer, the town is filled with tourists of all nationalities.

Background

The first historical investigations on Montemonaco carried out in the first half of the twentieth century by Augusto Vittori trace the origin of the toponym to a nucleus of Benedictine monks who settled in this small plateau since the eighth century. The fortification and the constitution in a free municipality took place in the thirteenth century after the authority of the nobles of Monte Passillo and of the other local lords had been considerably weakened. It was then that the Montemonachese built the high stone walls interspersed with towers, which since then made Montemonaco independent and proud in repelling the attacks of the neighboring municipalities of Norcia, Montefortino, Loving it, Arquata and even of Francesco Sforza and Niccolò Piccinino to whom, in spite of Amandola and Montefortino who had always been conquered on various occasions, he succeeded in imposing pacts of mutual convenience.

It was in 1545 that the municipal statutes were finally codified on the basis of the ancient customs and readjusting the precepts of San Benedetto, on which the medieval civitas was probably formed. So proud of their traditions, that they saw it since the tenth century aggregated to the diocese of Stop and at the Farfense Presidiato, he balked not a little in bowing, obtorto neck, to the powerful Montaltese pope Sixtus V who aggregated it, in spiritualibus to the diocese of Montalto, which he just created, in 1586.

In the following centuries the territory of Montemonaco gradually lost the strategic importance that had qualified it, since the Middle Ages, as a particular road junction at the center of the intense traffic along the north / south roads of the Adriatic side of the peninsula.

The history of Montemonaco, however, beyond the established powers that have marked its civil events over time, has been influenced, since the pagan era, by the presence of the icon of the Apennine Sibyl and its mythical Grotto. A presence with multiple reflections and with which the small community, administered by the central power of the Church, in the course of its history has experienced moments of not always easy coexistence.

Land of ancient frequentations, since the late Middle Ages it permanently welcomed people from distant lands. Attracted by the liberality and intolerance of the established powers of the Montemonachese, some heretical fringes such as the Michelist Fraticelli, the Clareni, the Sacconi, the followers of the Templars and other heretics who fled from less tolerant states or cities, poured into the most safe mountain lands in the territory of Montemonaco and the neighboring municipalities. Others decided to cross the Adriatic Sea and settled in Dalmatia or in Greece.

Among the events of the fifteenth century that will further contribute, in the following centuries, to making Montemonaco known well beyond its natural geographical area, there are at least two significant ones: on the one hand, the arrival in these lands of the French knight Antoine de La Sale al service of the Duchess Agnes of Burgundy in 1420, on the other the publication in 1473 of the novel by Andrea da Barberino Guerrino said petty. Both events take place against the backdrop of the legend of the Apennine Sibyl and the underground complex of its cave, which has been included in the Montemonachese territory since ancient times.

But while in the novel by Andrea da Barberino, Montemonaco is mentioned marginally in a literary plot entirely centered on the legend of the Apennine Sibyl and her mythical cave, the autopsy diary of Antoine de La Sale (what he will say to see or hear from the dei Montemonachesi, he will annotate it by reporting it in the chapter entitled Le Paradis de la Reyne Sibylle, inside his Salade) is historically interesting as the first indirect attempt of which we have news aimed at securing the legend of the Sibyl at the beginning of the Renaissance.

The fame of the Apennine Sibyl must have reached Burgundy if the Duchess Agnese apparently had a tapestry in her castle with the representation of the Sibyl's cave. He then sent the knight De La Sale to Montemonaco to verify its veracity (if the design on which they had made the tapestry was the fruit of fantasy or corresponded to reality). Among the reasons that would have pushed De La Sale to undertake the journey Detlev Kraack identifies that of honor: fulfilling the desire of a lady of such a high lineage was already a way to increase it, to reach a goal, among the known and illustrious pilgrimages, such as Monte Sibilla and its Grotto was equivalent to consecrating it.

De La Sale then left Burgundy and arrived in Umbria, made a stop at Assisi is Spoleto, where he left his insignia engraved in the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi and in the Spoleto Cathedral. Then through the Sasso Borghese pass on 28 May 1420 he reached Montemonaco. There he listens to the tales of the Queen Sibyl from the voice of the Montemonachesi including Antonio Fumato, tries to understand if there are really Fairies and Sibyls, and begins to walk towards the Grotto. The whole story about the Kingdom of the Sibyl and her Handmaids will follow, veiled with fear and skepticisms "artfully" to save themselves from the Inquisition. De La Sale will return to Montemonaco a second time in 1440.

How to orient yourself

Fractions

Montemonaco boasts numerous hamlets, such as:

How to get

By plane

The nearest airports are those of Ancona (About 100 km) and of Pescara (About 130 km).

By car

• To get to Montemonaco from both north and south take the A14 motorway and follow the signs for San Benedetto del Tronto is Ascoli Piceno, then take the RA11 junction and, following the directions for Rome, take the Strada Statale 4, then the Provincial Road 237 passing through the municipalities of Roccafluvione is Ropaga
• To get to Montemonaco from Ascoli Piceno take the SP 235 then the SS 4 and follow the directions above.

On the train

The nearest railway station is that of Ascoli Piceno reachable with the Mazzuca bus linesTo consult the train timetables visit the State Railways website.

By bus

Bus connections with surrounding municipalities and Ascoli Piceno are managed by Mazzuca bus lines and from Madebus.

How to get around

Start line buses depart from Montemonaco, connecting it with the Ascoli area and the stop. Otherwise the easiest way to get around is by car. Very recommended in the summer, long bike rides.

What see

The parish church of San Benedetto was built in the 16th century within the walls, in the upper part of the town, adjacent to the San Biagio gate and leaning against the ancient walls. Contiguous to the oldest San Biagio intra mœnia of the 15th century, which was erected by expanding a small oratory of the 13th century, the church of San Benedetto preserves inside a lunette, a fresco with a crucifixion attributed to the Crivelli school, an arm of 'silver, containing the relic of San Benedetto da Norcia, the work of the goldsmith master Cristoforo da Norcia and a wooden crucifix of 15th century Marche art.

Going down Viale Italia on the right, you will find the church of San Giovanni Battista from the 15th century with a single nave. A valuable work of the Virgin of the rescue by the painter Vitruccio Vergari dating back to 1520. In the semicircular apse, there is a niche, framed by two flowered sticks with a snake-headed end of the Neoplatonic area and which probably housed a statue in the period fifteenth century.

Continuing along the road, the sixteenth-century Palazzo dei Priori rises (today the seat of the municipality). The palace is the result of a late sixteenth century reworking of the oldest structure of the early fifteenth century, of which traces are preserved in the fifteenth-century stone re-commissions of the windows with truncated inscriptions, without sequence.

There is no trace of the ancient castle at the top of the town except in the toponym of via di Castello. At the end of the street, in the highest part of Montemonaco, there is a large belvedere, today Montiguarnieri Park, bordered to the north by a section of the ancient walls, and from which the wide panoramic view dominates the sloping hills towards the Adriatic Sea towards the east. and to the west the chain of the Sibillini Mountains which, from Monte Sibilla to Monte Vettore, collects the decline of the plateau where the fortified village was built.

Lake of Pilate: It is located within the municipal area, less than a kilometer from the Umbrian border and is the only natural lake in the Marche. Lake Pilato is one of the very few alpine-type glacial lakes in the Apennines. Its location between impervious and vertical walls immediately below the summit of Mount Carrier is particular and evocative.The size and flow of water mainly depend on the distribution of rainfall: it is in fact fed not only by the rains, but above all by the melting of the snows. they cover the surface of the water mirror for most of the year until the beginning of summer.

The lake is home to a particular endemism, the Chirocefalo del Marchesoni: it is a small red crustacean that measures 9-12 millimeters and swims with its belly facing upwards.

In popular tradition it takes its name from the legend according to which the body of Pontius Pilate sentenced to death by Tiberius ended up in its waters. The body, closed in a sack, was entrusted to a cart of buffaloes left free to wander aimlessly and would have fallen into the lake from the sharp crest of the Cima del Redentore.

In the fourteenth century it fell under the dominion of Norcia and was considered a place of witches and necromancers. In the first literary works it is said that the religious authorities were forced to prohibit access from the Nursino side and to have a gallows placed as a warning at the beginning of the path that led to the lake. Also in the literature it is said that for this reason dry stone walls were raised around its basin in order to avoid reaching its waters.

Another name used in ancient times was that of Lake Sibilla (Lacum Sibillæ), as evidenced by an acquittal issued in favor of the Montemonachese community by the Judge of the Marca Anconitana De Guardaris in 1452. Averno from which you enter the world of the Underworld.

Via Trento and Via Trieste are two typical streets of the city to go through.

Events and parties

• Feast of the Wood. 
• Feast of the Befana. 
• Feast of St. Sebastian. 
• Chestnut Market Festival. 

What to do

The city activities are connected to the associations present in the area, which are:

• A.C. Montemonaco. 
• ^{[link not working]}Theater Group For Anna. 
• ^{[link not working]}Montemonaco Ski Club. 

There are possibilities to make excursions to the Sibillini Mountains following for example these itineraries:

• Lake of Pilato;
• Grotta delle Fate and Monte Sibilla;
• Mount Carrier;
• Gola Dell'infernaccio;
• Pantana of Montegallo;
• Monte Bellavista;
• Borghese Palace;

Shopping

In the town there are shops where you can buy typical products:

• Corona Meats. butcher, butchery 
• The bottega della cuccagna. Salami, Cheese, Mushrooms 

How to have fun

Settled in the municipal tower, inside the park, there are numerous games for children. In the summer, the Torrione soccer tournament is organized.

Where to eat

Average prices

• Le Castellare farmhouse. 
• Citadel Of Sibillini. 
• The Linden. 
• Farmhouse La Contea. 
• Trout Inn. 
• Inn of Ulysses. 
• The Primula. 
• La Fonte farmhouse. 
• Small Ranch. 
• La Scampagnata restaurant. 
• Collina oven. 

Where stay

Average prices

• Guerrin Meschino hotels. 
• Monti Azzurri hotels. 
• La Colombella. 
• Sibilla Hotel. 
• Mountain Tavern. 

Safety

In montemonaco there is the local Carabinieri station.

How to keep in touch

Around

• Arquata del Tronto - The town is located a few km from Montemonaco (about 29), easily reachable from the Provincial Road 83 turning onto the SP89. Of particular interest is the fortified complex of the Rocca. A medieval defense structure that can be seen isolated in the area north of the inhabited center and observes the Alta Valle del Tronto and the Salaria with its towers. Conceived as a military garrison to guard the territory, it has arrived in a good state of conservation up to the present day. Built several times between the 11th and 15th centuries, this stronghold is also known by the name of Queen Giovanna Castle. The recent restoration has made it open to visitors in all its rooms. In the country there is also the church of the Santissima Annunziata hosting the 13th century polychrome wooden crucifix.

Numerous excursions organized by the C.A.I. and with starting point Montemonaco:

• Lake of Pilato;
• Grotta delle Fate and Monte Sibilla;
• Mount Carrier;
• Gola Dell'infernaccio;
• Pantana of Montegallo;
• Monte Bellavista;
• Borghese Palace;

Other projects

• Wikipedia contains an entry concerning Montemonaco
• Commons contains images or other files on Montemonaco

Usable : the article respects the characteristics of a draft but in addition it contains enough information to allow a short visit to the city. Use i correctly listing (the right type in the right sections).