Tourist itineraries for visit Grottammare

Tourist itineraries for Grottammare

Grottammare, the pearl of the Adriatic, is a tourist resort on the Riviera delle Palme celebrated for more than three centuries for the beauty of the landscape, for the evocative atmospheres of peace and serenity, for the rich historical and cultural memories that it preserves and jealously guards like a casket.

In 1930 Grottammare was recognized by official decree as a tourist resort and in particular as a "health, stay and tourism station". An anniversary that in 2023 was also celebrated with the publication of a completely new tourist guide.
A precious book that offers four itineraries capable of narrating Grottammare in its landscape variety, going up from the seaside coast awarded with the European Blue Flag to the hill of Vecchio Incasato counted among the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy, and in its historical depth and artistic, from the archeology of the Picene and Roman eras to the contemporaneity of the elegant modern town.

As an alternative to the guide, there are always the now usual three itineraries that allow you to discover secret glimpses, bright viewpoints, to follow the traces left by the great characters of Grottammare and to appreciate the richness of the history preserved among ancient stones as in a treasure chest. Grottammare is, therefore, a modern and comfortable city, which has managed to jealously preserve its nature, its history and the memory of tradition.

Fazziniano itinerary

On May 4, 1913, the famous sculptor Pericle Fazzini, author of the Resurrection exhibited in the Sala Nervi in ​​the Vatican, was born in Grottammare. The Fazzinian path allows you to approach the artist's intense career, marked by numerous exhibitions in the most important museums in the world.

Some significant stages are located along an ideal itinerary that winds between the beach and the old hiding place. At the entrance to the cycle-pedestrian path 1, which connects Grottammare to Cupra Marittima, in harmony with nature and the sea, there is a bronze cast of the Boy with the Seagulls, obtained from the original wood of 1940-1944. , probably the artist's most accomplished sculpture. In the central square of the village 5 stands the sketch of the monument to Kennedy entitled Metamorphosis, from 1965, donated by the artist to Grottammare: a stele that splits lengthwise, revealing the profile of the American president in the voids. Then, near the Madonnina Park, it is possible to admire the Portrait of Mario Rivosecchi 7, the poet friend who discovered the talent of the young sculptor and introduced him to Roman artistic circles. A bronze Via Crucis is also kept inside the church of Sant'Agostino 8.

The heart of the Fazzinian itinerary is the Torrione della Battaglia 11 museum, a fortification that dates back to the 16th century, restored in 2004. In the exhibition rooms there are bronze sketches, drawings, lithographs, notebooks and other precious objects donated by Pericle Fazzini to the model Lisa Schneider: a collection of 250 works, purchased by the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation of Ascoli Piceno, which document the complex laboratory and the articulate inspiration of the «wind sculptor». Among the most prestigious works in the collection we remember the silver sketch for the famous Resurrection, the artist's splendid testament. Pericle Fazzini died in Rome on 4 December 1987.

Liberty itinerary

The features of Liberty spread in the Marche at the beginning of the twentieth century. Grottammare, together with other towns on the Adriatic coast, is in a particular position with respect to the large Italian and European centers which saw the flowering and development of this style. The largest nucleus of these villas is located in Viale Colombo 2, the former Viale Marino, built in 1890.

The avenue, dotted along its entire length with exuberant palm trees, has a pavement in porphyry and white Carrara marble, lively and enriched with designs recovered from the decorative tradition of the 1920s. Viale Colombo is overlooked by the villa "Marucchi", the villas "Alessandrini", "Ida" and "Ornella" and, above all, the Villino Matricardi-Cola 3, the finest example of Art Nouveau architecture in Grottammare, designed in 1913 by architect Cesare Bazzani, commissioned by Eng. Giuseppe Maria Matricardi, builder from Ascoli and owner of a majolica factory (it is no coincidence that the decorations of the villa are icons and means of spreading the ceramics produced by the owner). Continuing south you will come across the Kursaal building, which presides over the recently restored and redeveloped square 4.

The current building was inaugurated in July 1952; for years it was a renowned nightclub and was one of the most exclusive meeting places on the entire Adriatic coast. Since 2003 it has housed the Museum of Comic Illustration M.I.C on the ground floor, which preserves and exhibits illustrations by the most important masters of the Italian scene, dedicated to prestigious characters from comedy and entertainment.

Walking along the Lungomare della Repubblica we can also admire the simple and elegant lines of the villas "De Nardis - Palombari", "Monti", "Pontremoli - Modigliani" and "Flaiani". Finally, as well as on the coast, valid examples of Art Nouveau architecture and decoration are also located within the town. We remember only in Viale Garibaldi the "Ricci" cottage and the imposing building of the "G. Speranza ”, which refers to the forms of Art Nouveau for the large projecting cornices and the decorations present in the lunettes of the windows.

Sistine itinerary

Grottammare was the birthplace of men of strong temperament and determined character, such as Felice Peretti, Pope Sixtus V (1521-1590), to whom the Sistine Itinerary is entitled. Walking through the alleys and glimpses of a sixteenth-century Grottammare it is possible to visit the church of S. Lucia 12, built by the Pope near the birthplace, which houses a splendid organ of refined Baroque structure, built in 1752 by the famous organ builder Francesco Fedeli della Rocchetta di Camerino, now masterfully restored.

In addition, Sixtus V bequeathed to his birthplace objects that testify to his happy relationship with the land, preserved in the Sistine Museum set up in the church of San Giovanni Battista 9. Inside there are some very valuable objects donated by Sixtus V to Grottammare such as the chalice with paten and the medal with the effigy of Camilla Peretti, the pontiff's sister. The museum also houses precious paintings by illustrious artists from the Marche, such as Vittore Crivelli and Vincenzo Pagani.

Since 1794, a statue of the pontiff, made by the Swiss Stefano Interlenghi, overlooks the loggias of belvedere 10, located in a niche on the facade of the Teatro dell'Arancio, an eighteenth-century structure restored in 2003, which hosts theatrical performances, small concerts and a permanent exhibition of works by the painter Giacomo Pomili known as Il Tarpato. Finally, a bronze effigy of the pope, made by the sculptor Aldo Sergiacomi in 1984, stands with a severe eyelid on the splendid Piazza San Pio V 6, recently redeveloped. The itinerary can ideally end with a visit to the nineteenth-century church of San Pio V which houses works by Luigi Fontana, Cleto Capponi, Ubaldo Ferretti and Vittorio Fazzini, father of Pericle Fazzini.

Data source: http://www.comune.grottammare.ap.it