Description of the attraction
Macerata is the capital of the province of the same name in the Italian region of Marche. The historic city center is located on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza rivers. Once upon a time there was a settlement of the Pichen tribe on this place, which bore the name of Richina and after romanization received the name of Helvia Rechina. When the settlement was destroyed by barbarians, the surviving residents took refuge on a hill nearby, where they rebuilt a new city - Macerata. Today the city, whose population is about 43 thousand people, occupies not only the hill, but also the plain lying below. There is a lifting connection between its two parts - upper and lower.
On the main square of Macerata - Piazza della Liberta - there is an old Loggia dei Mercanti with two-level vaulted galleries dating from the Renaissance era. From it begins Corso della Repubblica, which leads to another square - Piazza Vittorio Veneto, where the city museum and art gallery with works by Carlo Crivelli are located in the luxurious Palazzo Ricci. Another interesting museum is the Carriage Museum. And along Corso Matteotti you can see a number of stunning palaces, including the Palazzo dei diamanti - the Diamond Palace.
The Macerata Cathedral was built in the neoclassical style between 1771 and 1790. Near it are the remains of a 15th century Gothic bell tower, and the interior of the cathedral was designed by Cosimo Morelli. To the south of the city is the Romanesque church of San Claudio al Chienti, built in the 14th century on the ruins of an older temple and distinguished by its unusual shape.
Also worth seeing in Macerata is the Palazzo Buonaccorsi, erected in the first half of the 18th century for Count Raimondo Buonaccorsi and his son Cardinal Simone. The residential floor of the palace is notable for its Hall of the Aeneids, painted with frescoes by Rambaldi, Dardani and Solimena and decorated with paintings by Garzi and Giovanni Joseffo dal Sole. And to the north of the city, in the village of Villa Potenza, you can visit the ruins of the ancient Roman settlement of Helvia Rechina, destroyed by the Visigoths.
