Marche Breaks

Monteleone di Fermo rises at 427 metres above sea level on the road leading from Servigliano to Montelparo on the high valley of the Ete Vivo between the Adriatic Sea and the Sibillini mountains. The Ete Vivo just marks the boundaries on the western and northern side while the Lubrico stream runs in the East and in the South the territory borders on Montelparo’s area.

Monteleone, along with Servigliano, were likely to have been colonised by the Romans when the Senate assigned them to Pompeo Magno, so Monteleone developed with the colony of Falerius Picenus (Piane di Falerone). During the sixth century A.D. with the decline of the Roman Empire, the territory was invaded by the Barbarians.

In fact there were probably two buildings forming a single Town Hall. The first one was called the Mons Leohum in the district of Poggio Castello and was conquered by the Longobards in 533. The second one was called Torre di Casole and withstood a twelve year siege thanks to a certain Leone whose name was probably given to the village, although several old documents show the name Mons Lionis.

The district of Poggio Castello di Monteleone is remembered as the seat of the mediaeval Curtis S. Marotis and probably as the first Picenian Apostle’s exile place.

Having a look around you can see a lovely landscape made up of the greenest cultivated lands forming a coloured palette of the varying growing areas season after season.

In the context of the remote great Curtis S. Marotis, halfway between the old and the new church of San Marone you can find the church of the Madonna della Misericordia, built in 1526 and consecrated on 27th May 1543.

It is named both church of the Misericordia, for its high altar showing Our Lady of Mercy, and the church of the Crocifisso (crucifix) for in the past, the left side altar was showing a fine fig wooden crucifix. Following its restoration, the crucifix is now displayed in the church of San Marone.

The interior of the church is dominated by a fresco of the Guidizio Universale (the Last Judgement) on the Eastern wall. This work of art is attributed to Orfeo Presutti, a painter from Fano. The Guidizio Universale is considered the largest fresco (for its painted extension) in the area of Fermo.

The church of San Giovanni Battista is of remarkable interest for its 13th and 14th century Hexagonal Tower, which was already part of the old castle’s defence walls. Its exquisite terracotta workmanship shows an interesting early Christian architrave.

Inside the church, are a silver embossed astylar cross by Bartolomeo da Montelparo (1524) and two paintings showing Our Lady and Saint John by the Crivelli school.

The church of San Marone closes the north side of Piazza Umberto I (the village’s main square). The church was built in the 16th century on what remained of an Augustinian monastery. Nowadays it preserves the fig wooden crucifix of the church of the Misericordia, entirely restored. Inside, above the central main entrance, you can admire a rather large painting showing the image of Saint Marone martyr, the village patron.