Located in the central-eastern part of Italy, Macerata is in the Le Marche region.
In Roman times Macerata was located in a valley. After its destruction, its inhabitants took refuge on the hill where there is now a medieval town. Characteristic of the Macerata are its unique buildings from the 16th and 18th centuries. The pride of the city is the old University that recently celebrated its seventh centenary.
The city center is a privileged place for meetings, animations and exhibitions and where the buildings of power are imposed: the Palazzo Comunale (XVII sec.), the beautiful Loggia dei Mercanti (XVI sec.) designed by Cassiano di Fabriano, the Torre dell’Orologio (1663) from which you can enjoy an exciting panorama, and the well-renovated Teatro Lauro Rossi.
See also: Palazzo Bonnaccorsi, Palazzo Ricci home to the Pinacoteca d’Arte Moderna and the Basilica della Madonna della Misericordia richly decorated in marble. Of great interest is the arena called Sferisterio, a neoclassical construction that can accommodate up to 7,000 spectators, nowadays used for shows and different manifestations.
Just 3 km away, there are the Roman ruins of Helvia Ricina among which there is a theater.
Sant’Elpidio a Mare is located on a ridge of the Marche sub-Apennines 9 kilometers from the Adriatic Sea.
The toponym testifies to the intensity of the patron’s cult. The historic center is still surrounded by medieval defensive walls, equipped with three access gates (the fourteenth-century gates Marina, Romana and Canale) and imposing towers (the Guerrieri tower and the Gerosolimitana tower, 28 meters high). The artistic heritage enclosed in the numerous religious buildings is also noteworthy, among which the following stand out: the church of Santa Croce, now almost destroyed, raised to the rank of imperial abbey in 886 by Carlo il Grosso; the Romanesque collegiate church of Sant’Elpidio Abate, with three naves, with paintings by Pomarancio and the Venetian painter Iacopo Negretti, known as Palma, as well as a Roman sarcophagus from the 3rd century AD; the sixteenth-century church dedicated to Maria Santissima della Misericordia, frescoed by Pomarancio; the fourteenth-century church of San Francesco; the church dedicated to San Filippo Neri, which contains a Callido organ and a canvas by Nicola Monti.
Not to be missed: the Vittore Crivelli Civic Art Gallery, set up in the rooms of the former convent of the Filippini, which boasts a rich
collection of paintings on canvas and on wood, including three works by the Venetian master Vittore Crivelli (the polyptych of the Coronation of the Virgin, the triptych of the Visitation to St. Elizabeth, the small panel depicting the praying Franciscan friar); the Fossil Museum, which houses finds from the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic and Neozoic eras; the Footwear Museum, which houses thousands of finds including shoes, shapes and tools for processing, exhibited according to thematic areas divided into three sections. The first section is dedicated to footwear from every time and place to document the history of footwear with specimens from different historical periods from all parts of the world; the second section is dedicated to the shoes of famous people while the third faithfully reproduces an artisan workshop.
Notable events are: the three days of the Middle Ages City, when the entire historic center, with over 1,000 participants from the 4 districts, returns to the past with scenes and aspects of everyday life, animations and shows; the Contesa del Secchio, the first historical re-enactment of the Marches, which has been held since 1953 on the second Sunday of August and the Città Presepe during the Christmas period.