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The Province of Macerata: an Overview
Hello friends! Today I will be talking about the province of Macerata, one of the provinces in the Marche region of Italy. With a population of 303,684 inhabitants, its capital city is Macerata. This province is the largest in terms of surface area, covering an area of 2,774 km².
Physical Geography
The province of Macerata borders the Adriatic Sea to the east and the Umbria region to the west. Furthermore, since the establishment of the province of Fermo in 2004, it is the only province in Marche to border three other provinces in the same region, namely the province of Ancona to the north, the province of Ascoli Piceno to the southwest, and the province of Fermo to the south.
The territory is predominantly hilly (67.7%) and mountainous (32.3%). Three unions of mountain municipalities are located in the Appennino and Subappennino Maceratese: the Potenza Esino Musone Mountain Union, the Camerino Brand Mountain Union, and the Monti Azzurri Mountain Union.
The province of Macerata derives from the delegation of Macerata from the State of the Church, to which in 1860 the delegation of Camerino and the municipality of Visso were annexed. Territorial changes have been frequent: in particular, the province has ceded certain areas to the province of Ancona. In 1929, the province of Perugia ceded the municipality of Visso to the province of Macerata.
Economy
The economy of this province is like that of the rest of the Marche region, characterized by numerous small but highly specialized companies. In particular, the production of footwear is a very important sector. In 2006, the Bank of the Province of Macerata was created.
Infrastructure and Transport
Before the advent of the automobile, the province of Macerata was crossed by historic roads that led to Rome, some of which were very ancient. The most important road was the Via Lauretana (Umbria-Marche), which started from Foligno and passed through the Colfiorito Plateau (where the ancient city of Plestia was located) and then crossed the province of Macerata passing through Serravalle di Chienti, Tolentino, and the Sanctuary of the Holy House to reach the port of Ancona.
With the arrival of trains, a new railway designed to cross the Fossato di Vico-Fabriano-Vall'Esina Pass took away the possibility of creating a direct railway connection with the Italian capital. However, around 1885, a line was built that branched off at Fabriano towards Ancona and passed through Albacina, Civitanova Marche, Macerata, Matelica, San Severino Marche, Tolentino, Corridonia, and Montecosaro. Camerino was connected to Castelraimondo by the Castelraimondo-Camerino Railway, which has now been dismantled and replaced with a bus service.
And so, dear friends, this is the province of Macerata! I hope this overview has been interesting and useful. Until next time!
