Matelica is a (municipality) of the

Province of Macerata The province of Macerata ( it, provincia di Macerata) is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Macerata. The province includes 55 comunes (Italian: ''comuni'') in the province, see Comunes of the Province of Mace ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

region of Marche. Located about southwest of

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

and west of

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ...

, it extends over an area of .

Geography

Matelica lies in an ample valley where the Braccano creek joins the

Esino The Esino (, la, Aesis) is a river in the Marche region of central Italy. Geography The source of the river is east of Monte Penna in the province of Macerata near the border with the province of Ancona. The river flows east past Esanatoglia and ...

river, dominated by the town from an eastern ravine. The valley, roughly in the north–south direction, is delimited on the east and west sides by Apennines sub-ranges, whose highest peaks are respectively Mount Gemmo at and Mount San Vicino at , compared to the above sea-level of the city centre. Matelica borders on the following municipalities: Apiro, Castelraimondo, Cerreto d'Esi, Esanatoglia,

Fabriano Fabriano is a town and ''comune'' of Ancona province in the Italian region of the Marche, at above sea level. It lies in the Esino valley upstream and southwest of Jesi; and east-northeast of Fossato di Vico and east of Gubbio (both in Umb ...

Fiuminata Fiuminata is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. The municipal seat is in the ''frazione'' of Massa. Fiuminata borders the foll ...

, Gagliole,

Poggio San Vicino Poggio San Vicino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about northwest of Macerata. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 299 and an area of .All ...

San Severino Marche San Severino Marche is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. History From prehistory to Roman age The oldest remains of human pre ...

Climate

The climate is dictated by the Apennines and, to a lesser extent, by the temperate Adriatic Sea on the east. Consequently, Matelica enjoys a somewhat continental climate with cool winters and hot, dry summers. In winter, Matelica occasionally experiences sub-zero temperatures and snowfall between December and February. Highest summer temperatures can be well above in July and August. In keeping with the layout of the valley, the dominant winds are along the north–south direction, those from the south being more frequent but weaker than those from the north.

History

The first human settlements in the area can be traced to the

Umbri The Umbri were an Italic people of ancient Italy. A region called Umbria still exists and is now occupied by Italian speakers. It is somewhat smaller than the ancient Umbria. Most ancient Umbrian cities were settled in the 9th-4th centuries BC on ...

and

Picentes The name Picentes or Picentini refers to the population of Picenum, on the northern Adriatic coastal plain of ancient Italy. Their endonym, if any, is not known for certain. There is linguistic evidence that the Picentini comprised two different ...

and date back to the 1st millennium BC. Later, under Roman rule, Matelica became a

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the priv ...

(70 BC). Starting from the 5th century AD, it was seat of a bishop, who for a while remained the only authority, after the fall of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

. The town was then annexed to the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

(552). Destroyed by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

in 578, it was subsequently joined to the bishopric of Camerino.The present

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

dates from much later: a 15th-century church, it was elevated in 1785, when the bishopric was restored. From the 9th century, Matelica was under the indirect rule of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

(while belonging formally to the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

), then becoming a free municipality in 1160. In 1174, it was again obliterated, this time by the army of Christian I (Archbishop of Mainz). Since then, Matelica remained part of the

(albeit at times under an independent Governor), until the Italian unification (1861), save for the brief Napoleonic occupation.

Main sights

The old part of town presents an urban structure dating largely from the Middle Ages, and is punctuated by several palazzi and churches from different periods. Sights in the town include: * Matelica Cathedral * Church of Sant'Agostino (14th century) * Church of San Francesco (1246-1260, façade from the 18th century) * Church of Santa Maria Maddalena * Chiesa del Suffragio *Communal palace *Governor Palace and Civic Tower *Piersanti Museum, housing a collection of artworks. *Palazzo Pettinelli

Twin towns

Las Rosas Las Rosas is a city in the southwest of the , located from the provincial capital. It has about 13,689 inhabitants as per the , and it is the head town of the Belgrano Department, which also comprises the municipalities of Armstrong, Bouquet, ...

, Argentina

References and notes

External links

Official website
{{Authority control