Marche Breaks

Petritoli is a medieval village perched on a hilltop 358 metres above sea level in the Ascoli Piceno province of Le Marche in central Italy between the Adriatic Sea and the Appenine mountain chain.

The village, its 2 hamlets Moregnano and Valmir, and the surrounding countryside have a population of 2500. It is a largely self-sufficient village with a bank, post-office, grocery stores, mini-markets, butchers, bakers, fresh pasta shop, hardware store, electrical store, florists, gift-shops, hairdressers, beauticians, G.P's, library, school, newsagents, petrol station, 3 bars, 4 restaurants, pizza take-away, cottage hospital, museum, numerous artists and artisans, and a small but beautiful theatre.

The delightful historical centre of Petritoli is entered through a quite stunning gateway comprising of two round 15th century towers connected by a series of three 19th century neogothic arches.

The village follows the typical pattern of this region with the main square, Piazza Rocca, at the top housing the 40 metre high clock tower (1831) and the oldest properties (the original monastic centre), and the rest of the yellow brick village winding down below against the rock face.

Teatro dell'Iride (1875)has recently been renovated and now holds regular concerts, plays and other performances. Of the numerous churches, the two most interesting are the 14th-15th century Chiesa di San Prospero and the Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Martiri with its unusual 17th century frescoes set out in 15 octagonal scenes, and rare organ, work of the renowned Callido.

The countryside surrounding Petritoli is typical of central Italy. Rolling hills stretching for miles, fold into each other occasionally interupted by the pale yellow cliffs, finally to be framed by the blue of the sky or the Adriatic Sea to the east, and the dark forms of the Sibillini mountains, snow capped during the winter months, to the west. Distant hilltop villages and towns are highlighted by the sunshine and their yellow bricks, lit up, contrast sharply with the greens and browns of the countryside that falls below them.

Closer to Petritoli the lonely farmhouses, reached by a labyrinth of white lanes, sit amongst the stripes of the vinyards, the silver grey of the olive groves, the orchards with their white and pink blossoms; and, the fields of wheat and sunflowers ploughed brown in winter, turning green with the warmth of spring before finally becoming yellow in the heat of the summer sun. An ever changing landscape of incredible beauty.

There is a lively social calendar in Petritoli particularly during the summer months when the village's population seems to double with the influx of italians from the main cities in search of a better quality of lifestyle. The main festival in Petritoli is the Festa Della Cove, held the weekend of the second sunday of July. It is a truly magnificent record of the history and traditions of the village and a testimony to the hard work put in by the local residents. Food, wine, music, dancing, absolutely beautiful floats and lots and lots of smiling. Worth a visit! Alternatively you can come and watch the wooden wheeled go-carts hurtling through the streets at the Festa Della Madonna the first Sunday after Ferragosto.

John the Baptist is the Patron Saint of Petritoli celebrated on the 24th of June.

The village is 16km away from the coast and the delightful seaside resort of Pedaso. It is 35 minutes away from the Sibillini mountains.

Both the main airports serving the region are within easy reach, Ancona airport an hour away and Pescara about 70 mins distant.

Petritoli was founded by the Farfense monks around the year 1000 with the name of Castel Rodolfo, maybe from the name of a feudal monk.

It remained under the feudal dominion of the Farfense until it went into the hands of Transarico, baron of Saltareccia, member of the powerful Brunforte family. It was then ceded to Ermanno, bishop of Fermo, in 1055 and it remained under the jurisdiction of the bishops of Fermo until 1198 and under the protection of the Catholic Church until 1250.

It was, later on, conquered by Emperor Federico II and by the town of Fermo, ally of the Emperor against the Roman Church.

It was subject to occupations and destruction, alternating periods of autonomy (due to the benevolence of some Popes) and periods of submission to the jurisdiction of Fermo. Under Napoleon it got the title of Canton and a vast jurisdiction and it participated to the military campaigns of the Risorgimento.

Petritoli is where to go if you are prepared to partiipate in something that sums up the “fashinating” spirit of the Piceno lands: it offers you the “Festa delle cove” a feast of thanksgiving, according to the farmers’ traditions, for th wheat harvest, in which the joyful profusion makes the bundles of ears of heat seem like bundles of flowers.

For two days there are parades of “canestrelle” and floats to the sound of accordions and musical ditties, but above all it is possible to enter a reality that today speaks the same language of yesterday: it is a world of the sharecropping, the orderly rows of vines and orchards, of holdings cultivated by the “vergari”, of their industrious farmhouses.

Today Petritoli is a very busy place: you will be amazed by the liveliness of the tourist initiatives, with its festivals, its street markets and the wide offer of cultural competitions and events which range from music to theatre.

The town, as you will realize by its monuments, starting with the three splendid arches closed within two towers, has a history that goes back as far as the Farfensi monks. In more recent times during the Napoleonic period it became the chief town of he district.