RECANATI
Recanati
rises on the top of a hill (296 meters) between the Potenza
and Musone rivers' valleys surrounded by a landscape closed
between the Sibillini Mounts and the Adriatic Sea.
The territory was already inhabited in the ancient times by
neolithic populations and subsequently by Picens
but the present village rose because of the barbaric invasions
that destroyed the Roman city of Helvia Recina,
the inhabitants took refuge on the surrounding hills giving
origin to the first nuclea of Macerata and Recanati.
The present village took its modern aspect in the
XII century when three smaller localities were unified:
Monte Volpino, Monte San Vito, Monte Morello.
It became free Comune and supported
the Ghibelline cause being on Federico II of Svevia's side.
It passed to the Church remaining inside
the Papal State, with the exception of the Napoleonic break,
until its annexation to the Reign of Italy in 1860.
Recanati for the Italians sounds like Giacomo Leopardi,
the great Italian poet who was born here and found the inspiration
for some of its more famous lirics (L'Infinito, A Silvia,
Il Sabato del Villaggio). To be visited in the village Palazzo
Leopardi and its library: 20,000 volumes collected
by Monaldo, father of Giacomo. Other interesting spots are
the famous hill of the Infinite
and the churches of Sant'Agostino (XIII century) with a beautiful
portal and San Vito (XVIII).
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