Lapedona
Discovering Lapedona, a small Marche municipality
Hello friends, today I want to tell you about Lapedona, a small municipality in the Marche region. Lapedona, or La Pëdona in dialect, is located in the province of Fermo and has about 1191 inhabitants. It is part of the Extended Area n.4 of Fermo and the Regional Sanitary Company of the Marche (ASUR Marche).
Exploring the territory
The municipal territory of Lapedona borders on other Marche municipalities, such as Fermo, the Aso river and Altidona to the south and Moresco and Monterubbiano to the west. The area is mainly hilly, with the only exception of the Valdaso fraction, which is almost completely flat. Most of the inhabitants of Lapedona live in the countryside. The historic centre of the village preserves its original structure of a medieval castle, surrounded by walls and with two gates of access: Porta da Sole and Porta Marina, the latter is decorated with "swallow-tailed" merlons and is the only one that can be passed through by car.
A leap into the past of Lapedona
History is one of the sections that we cannot ignore when talking about a village like Lapedona, which has a long and interesting story. In this small Marche municipality, there are many monuments and places of interest that testify to the vicissitudes of the past. The churches in the historic centre are a small gem. The church of Santi Giacomo and Quirico, from the 14th century but almost completely rebuilt a century ago, preserves pictorial works attributed to Pietro Alemanno (15th century) and a wooden statuette of the patron saint. The church of San Nicolò, from the 17th-18th century, with altarpieces attributed to the Marche painters G. Ghezzi and F. Ricci and a Callido school organ, is now deconsecrated and used for artistic events, such as classical music concerts. The church of San Lorenzo, from the late 18th century, with the bell tower from 1732 and the unusable crypt, preserves a Gaetano Callido organ (1784) restored, a wooden Crucifix of probable Byzantine origin, in addition to baroque style altars.
Places of worship outside the walls
In addition to the churches in the historic centre of Lapedona, there are also some churches outside the village walls. The church of San Quirico, in Borgo San Quirico, is an example of Romanesque art, with traces of frescoes (12th-14th century), and has a crypt supported by cylindrical cross vaults and columns with capitals of different shapes. The church of San Pietro is also Romanesque, but refurbished in the 19th century, it is at the entrance of the cemetery, with columns with capitals in different sandstone. Furthermore, there is the small rural church of the 11th century, the church of Madonna Manù, about 3 km from the provincial road that leads to the sea. Finally, the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli or ''ad nivem'' in Borgo Castellano.
Monuments and works outside the churches
Within the walls of Lapedona, there is also the elementary school, built in the first half of the twentieth century on the remains of the monastery of Frati di Fonte Avellana. The town hall, built at the end of the 16th century and recently renovated, displays in its portico a funerary stele dating back to the imperial Roman era. Finally, the main fountain of Lapedona, located in Giacomo Leopardi square, built in 1900, at the inauguration of the aqueduct, which brought water into the houses of the village.
Music in the hills: the Lapedona festival
Since 2004, Lapedona has hosted one of the most anticipated music festivals of the Marche summer. Music in the hills is a festival that takes place in August with the artistic direction of the violinist Walter Daga. Over the years, this event has hosted many nationally renowned artists, such as the bass Luca Dall'Amico, the director Marco Bellussi and the pianist Leonora Armellini.
In conclusion, Lapedona is a small Marche municipality that deserves to be discovered and visited. Its history and the works of art it preserves are just some of its beauties. The Music in the hills festival, finally, makes this location even more lively and interesting. I recommend taking a walk around its streets and admiring the beauty of its architecture. Thank you for reading with me this brief tour of Lapedona. See you soon friends!
