DIMORA FONTEMAGGIO

History

Cupra Marittima with its 4650 inhabitants is one of the most prestigious seaside resort of the Riviera delle Palme .
The oldest part of the town, the medieval one, clings picturesquely against the side of a hill, while the modern part is lying along the seashore. With the Picentes Civilitation (8th century – 2nd century. BC.) Cupra Marittima starts growing as evidenced by the many necropolis; after the defeat of the Picented in 268 BC., Cupra becomes a Roman colony and the “ager cuprensis” is identified with “V region”.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire the Barbarians enter into this area.

After the fall of Western Roman Empire, the territory was invaded by the Barbarians, and submitted the domination of the Byzantines, Lombards, Franks and Arabs. During the Middle Ages the inhabitants that lived in the Roman district moved to the hill Marano and created a new town center. In the IX century it submitted several raids and was often plundered and at a certain point, completely destroyed.

Interesting sights in Cupramarittima

The town can be divided into two parts: the upper one, within the old village, the medieval centre of Marano, and the lower and most recent one, developed on the seaside.
In the old centre there are the archaeological town museum, with its prehistoric, picena and roman sections, the Brancadoro Sforza Palace (1444), the castle of Sant’Andrea, the medieval church Santa Maria in Castello, the churches del Suffragio with its wonderful XVII century canvas painting of Pietà and dell’Annunziata; the latter contains a permanent beautiful Christ’s nativity representation
Down in the valley, you can get the Collegiata San Basso, where you can admire the wonderful triptych of Vittore Crivelli and the painting of Giuseppe Pauri
A visit not to be missed is in the museum of Malacology, whose exhibition contains over 900.000 specimens of shells from all over the world.