Montecassiano
Montecassiano
Originally a Roman temple dedicated to Venus alongside a domus, maybe belonging to one of the magistrates of Ricina – Helvia Ricina was a Roman city whose remains are still visible along the Potenza river near Macerata –, Montecassiano was built from the union of five ancient castles: Monte dell'Abate, Monte Libano, Monte Ferro, Monte della Serra, and Monte di Collina. All those castles appear on today's municipal coat of arms and are represented by the five hills corresponding to its current hamlets.
Its first name was Castrum Montis Sancte Marie, in the 13th century it was renamed to Monte Santa Maria in Cassiano, and finally became just Montecassiano in memory of the important Cassiani family from Rome who governed the area.
The family, already mentioned in 11th-century documents, lived in a big four-building palace with an internal courtyard which almost perfectly corresponds to today's central Piazza Leopardi.
The first municipal community was rather free from any interference by the aristocracy, and welcomed many inhabitants coming from the small castles nearby. The only one which remained outside its protection was the Castle of Nuncastro, that Swabian King Enzo offered to Macerata in 1239 – a concession confirmed by his father Federico II in 1249 – for their help during the siege of Montecchio (now Treia).
The Castle of Nuncastro, poorly considered by Macerata because of its remoteness, was incorporated into the municipality of Montecassiano, which in that period showed an increasing intolerance towards the demands of the Cistercian monks, so much so that it sided with the Swabian empire. The attacks and sieges of rival bordering municipalities caused remarkable damage to the defensive structure of Montecassiano, which repeatedly had to rebuild entire parts of the castle.
A journey through Montecassiano’s history and art
The beautiful medieval city walls with three access gates leading to the centre through concentric alleys are spectacular and evocative. Palazzo dei Priori stands out with its Ghibelline merlons in the central Piazza Leopardi. The first palace was built in the 12th century, but in the 15th century it was completely renovated by Antonio Lombardo with a new façade that has three bifore windows and an elegant portico at the entrance. Its restoration in 1938 recovered its ancient crenellation and introduced an arch with a staircase as a connection to Palazzo Compagnucci, which belonged to noble families such as the Scaramuccia, the Capponi, and finally the Compagnucci. One of the members of the Scaramuccia family secretly raised Amedeo from the Savoy family for 5 years and, in memory of this bond, the heraldry of the Savoy dynasty is included in the family crest. The 18th-century collegiate church of Santa Maria Assunta with a precious bronze portal has remarkable value. Inside the church, there is an altarpiece in glazed terracotta realized by Fra Mattia della Robbia. Among all the religious buildings, it is also worth recalling the church of San Marco, an example of the regional baroque, the church of Santi Filippo and Giacomo, which houses the Museum of the Confraternities with processional objects, the church of San Giovanni Battista, the oratory of San Nicolò from the 13th century, with a bell cast in 1382. The "Girolamo Buratto" Civic Art Gallery hosts beautiful works such as "Il Sogno di Giacobbe" (Jacob's Dream), attributed to Buratto, a pupil of Pomarancio, and an important piece: the Madonna enthroned with Child among Saints Andrew and Elena and musician angels, by Iberian artist Ioannes Hispanus. This work recalls the strong devotion of the town to a relic of the Holy Cross. The contemporary works are all by Giovanni Cingolani, a painter from Montecassiamo famous in Italy and Argentina.
The IME - The Marches Food and Wine Institute recommends:
Colli Maceratesi DOC
These wines, both red and white, are an expression of native grapes with universal values typical of the area where they are produced. These are the monks' wines, which later became the sharecroppers' wines. The Colli Maceratesi Red wine is pleasant, dry and balanced, while the Colli Maceratesi White wine should be drunk young to enjoy freshness, crispness and fragrance. The taste is dry with soft fresh fruity scents. In areas where the grapes enjoy longer exposure to the sun, the taste has hints of citrus fruits.
Ciauscolo PGI
Ciauscolo, also known as ciavuscolo or ciabuscolo, is certainly a "family jewel" of Marche region's pork butchery. It can be immediately told apart from other cured meats because it is a meat spread. For this reason, many compare it to an extraordinarily tasty pâté. Its scent is delicate, aromatic, typical, firm and spicy. Its origin is lost in the mists of time and goes back to the traditional farming practice of processing pork.
"Sughitti" Sauces PAT - Prodotto Agroalimentare Tradizionale (Traditional Agri-food Products)
It is a typical dessert of the Marche hinterland which is usually proposed during the harvest as its main ingredient is fresh must. It is a sweet polenta made from must, cornmeal, and walnuts which can be cooked and thickened slowly over low heat, while constantly stirring.
The sharecropping society used to prepare this dessert and give it to the owners of the land where they worked as soon as the harvest was completed.
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