Cupra Marittima () is in the

Province of Ascoli Piceno The province of Ascoli Piceno () is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ascoli Piceno, and the province is bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the east, the province of Fermo to the north, and it faces the regions ...

in the

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

region

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, located about southeast of

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

and about northeast of

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; ; ) is a (municipality) and capital of the province of Ascoli Piceno, in the Italy, Italian region of Marche. Geography The town lies at the confluence of the Tronto, River Tronto and the small Castellano (river), River Castell ...

History

The site was originally an ancient sanctuary of the Piceni to the

Sabine The Sabines (, , , ; ) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains (see Sabina) of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided int ...

goddess

Cupra Cupra may refer to: * Cupra (marque), an automobile brand owned by the Spanish company SEAT ** Cupra Racing, a car racing team owned by SEAT * Cupra (goddess), a chthonic fertility goddess See also * Cupra Marittima, a commune in Marche, ...

, which was restored by

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

in 127 AD. The ancient Roman town of ''Cupra Maritima'' is at La Civita near the current town. The more ancient Picene town which grew up in the neighbourhood of the temple appears to have been situated near the hill of S. Andrea, a little way to the south, where pre-Roman tombs were discovered. Excavations have exposed the remains of the forum. Among the finds are fragments of a calendar, a statue of Hadrian and statuettes of Juno. An inscription of a cistern erected in 7 BC is also recorded.

Sights

The archaeological park at La Civita contains some of the impressive remains of the Roman town and the local museum displays many finds from the ancient settlements. At the centre of the site is the '' forum'' at the west end of which is the raised base of a temple, probably a ''

capitolium A ''Capitolium'' (Latin) was an ancient Roman temple dedicated to the Capitoline Triad of gods Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. A ''capitolium'' was built on a prominent area in many cities in Italy and the Roman provinces, particularly during the ...

'' with flight of steps and the altar all flanked by two arches. In front is a large podium for a sculptural group dedicated to Hadrian. At the east end of the forum is a large monumental building, probably a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

with a cult building to the emperor. Along the SS16 several Roman villas with mosaic floors have been discovered, one with a

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' (Latin : ''nymphaea'') or ''nymphaion'' (), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

embellished with fountains and frescoes with marine scenes.

Excavations

Recent excavations in 2022 by the University of Naples L'Orientale have uncovered elaborate frescoes in the sanctuary. It was revealed that the temple was built in the Augustan age then restructured, almost completely, in the 2nd century AD under Hadrian. The precious frescoes of the cella in the third Pompeian style were demolished and buried in the new podium. The foundations were reinforced and the entire wall of the cella was rebuilt in brickwork.Nuove scoperte nel Parco archeologico di Cupra Marittima, la "Pompei delle Marche https://arte.sky.it/news/scoperta-parco-archeologico-cupra-marittima-marche Cupra Maritima 1

Demographic evolution

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:455 height:303 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:5500 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:100 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1861 text:1861 bar:1871 text:1871 bar:1881 text:1881 bar:1901 text:1901 bar:1911 text:1911 bar:1921 text:1921 bar:1931 text:1931 bar:1936 text:1936 bar:1951 text:1951 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1971 text:1971 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:left bar:1861 from: 0 till:2165 bar:1871 from: 0 till:2309 bar:1881 from: 0 till:2262 bar:1901 from: 0 till:2735 bar:1911 from: 0 till:3077 bar:1921 from: 0 till:3213 bar:1931 from: 0 till:3412 bar:1936 from: 0 till:3595 bar:1951 from: 0 till:3985 bar:1961 from: 0 till:3925 bar:1971 from: 0 till:4093 bar:1981 from: 0 till:4287 bar:1991 from: 0 till:4564 bar:2001 from: 0 till:5017 PlotData= bar:1861 at:2165 fontsize:XS text: 2165 shift:(-8,5) bar:1871 at:2309 fontsize:XS text: 2309 shift:(-8,5) bar:1881 at:2262 fontsize:XS text: 2262 shift:(-8,5) bar:1901 at:2735 fontsize:XS text: 2735 shift:(-8,5) bar:1911 at:3077 fontsize:XS text: 3077 shift:(-8,5) bar:1921 at:3213 fontsize:XS text: 3213 shift:(-8,5) bar:1931 at:3412 fontsize:XS text: 3412 shift:(-8,5) bar:1936 at:3595 fontsize:XS text: 3595 shift:(-8,5) bar:1951 at:3985 fontsize:XS text: 3985 shift:(-8,5) bar:1961 at:3925 fontsize:XS text: 3925 shift:(-8,5) bar:1971 at:4093 fontsize:XS text: 4093 shift:(-8,5) bar:1981 at:4287 fontsize:XS text: 4287 shift:(-8,5) bar:1991 at:4564 fontsize:XS text: 4564 shift:(-8,5) bar:2001 at:5017 fontsize:XS text: 5017 shift:(-8,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from ISTAT

References

External links

www.comune.cupra-marittima.ap.it/
Cities and towns in the Marche Roman towns and cities in Italy {{Marche-geo-stub