Marche Breaks

Castel di Lama represented since the most remote times, an ideal place where to live: the Romans chose its hills, situated in harmony with a serene landscape, to build villas and settlements close to the important town of Ascoli.

It is not by chance that the Cistercian female monastery was built in 1206 on these hills, close to the ancient Olmo spring, which is full of spiritual equilibrium. Over the following centuries the Castello di Lama was built, it was a feud pf the Odardi family.

In the village’s ancient part small architectural masterpieces may admired, such as the 16th-century church Santa Maria in Mignano. Scattered throughout the whole municipal territory visitors may admire remarkable examples of elegant buildings, dating back to the 18th century, such as the wonderful Villa Seghetti-Panichi.

The hamlet’s history bears witness to the great involvement of Castel di Lama in the political vicissitudes of the past, such as the participation of its population to the Second War of the Tronto (in 1556) and the execution of 16 men, believed to be rebels, by the Napoleonic army in 1799.

Castel di Lama can also boast among its prestigious citizens renowned artists, such as the realist painter Domenico Ferri, and inspired monks, such as Fra Giuseppe da Lama (1671-1744) and Fra Marcellino da Capradosso, who lived between 1873 and 1909. The latter is undergoing a beatification process.

After the Second World War the village managed to develop and eventually obtained an increase in trade, industrial and social activities, with an enlargement of its housing centre. The latter has managed to preserve its own ancient and serene simplicity.