{"id":4836,"date":"2011-03-11T15:53:43","date_gmt":"2011-03-11T14:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.proacquasantaterme.it\/acquasanta-terme\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T09:59:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T08:59:17","slug":"acquasanta-terme","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.proacquasantaterme.it\/en\/the-territory\/acquasanta-terme\/","title":{"rendered":"Acquasanta Terme"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AcquasantaThe rich thermal spring and the Salaria road, which has always crossed it, have significantly contributed to the prominence of Acquasanta over the vast and complex municipal territory of which it has been the capital only since 1866. The Royal Decree of December 15, 1865, sanctioned the unification of the five mountain municipalities: Santa Maria (an independent municipality only since 1836), Acquasanta, Montacuto, Quintodecimo, and Montecalvo, heirs of the ancient Syndicates that had been self-governing for 800 years. <\/p>\n

The itinerary begins at Parco Rio, on the western edge of the town, and will provide a historical reading of the places, which, in Acquasanta more than in other districts, have paid their tribute to modernization at the expense of their integrity. From the walkway connecting the Park to the center, imagine the deep gorge carved by the Rio stream before it flows into the Tronto River. The slope in front, once the territory of Montacuto, saw the Salaria road descend: after passing the Fonte Vecchia, it crossed the stream on a bridge (wooden until 1683) and, climbing the opposite slope (l\u00f9 terrep\u00f2), entered the town through its western gate and opened onto the Piazza dei Fieni or Rio (now E. Collina). Here, the church of Santa Maria Maddalena with the adjoining Hospitale, to its right, the convent with a small cloister and gardens, behind it, occupied Contrada Prato (the ancient plain of Acquasanta overlooking the Tronto River). The church was founded in 1338 by the Canons of San Pietro, already holders of the oldest Hospitale; passed to the Conventual Friars between the 16th and 17th centuries, it finally became the Farfense Abbey in 1686. The richness in decorations of the five internal altars described in an inventory of 1653 and the birth here, in 1541, of the first confraternity of Acquasanta testify to its religious and social significance. The building took on its current appearance from 1844 when, after the dark years of Napoleonic domination, the Hospitale and the Convent were alienated, the facade wall on the square was consolidated (since the plague of 1526 it supported a chapel dedicated to San Rocco, with a covered loggia and a travertine slab floor), the doors to the south and north were closed, and the main door was opened after the current facade was set back a few meters. <\/p>\n

From the square originates Vicolo della Fortezza: in a steep climb, it first reaches Cagnano and from there Montecalvese. In the 1300s, the powerful Guiderocchi family watched over the pass and the borders with the nearby Kingdom of Naples from their impregnable fortress, the ruins of which are still visible on the watershed crest between the Tronto and Castellano rivers near the San Paolo pass. The short Via Roma opens into Piazza XX Settembre, formerly the Market Square: it became a public space only from the 17th century and has since been the site of intense commercial exchanges with neighboring regions. To the north, it is closed by the Town Hall, which, a private house until 1867, was equipped with a clock tower in 1873, later destroyed. <\/p>\n

\"SulfurousAcquasanta became the permanent seat of the namesake Syndicate only in the 1600s: in previous centuries, it fluctuated between Acquasanta and Luco, while in the 1500s, the Parliament more often met in Paggese. The staircase in front of the Town Hall, expanded and arranged for the first time in 1675, leads to the church of San Giovanni Battista. From its origins (prior to 1039 when Ilperino donated it along with all his possessions to the Benedictines of Farfa) until 1824, it stood isolated on the plateau overlooked by the Cagnano cliff with only the parish house next to it. In the second half of the 1700s, integral restoration work gave the building its current appearance with the addition of the apse and buttresses necessary to support the full span in place of a much lower truss roof. Finely carved stones from a church tabernacle are visible in the elevation walls near the apse and on the side door, others, along with some tombstones, are preserved in the courtyard of the parish house. The clock on the facade was transferred to the other bell tower built in just two months in 1811. In front of the side door of the church (note the building with a sundial on the facade and a berdesca on the north side), descend the steep steps of Vicolo dell’Arco to the left, reaching Corso G. Schiavi.<\/p>\n

The ancient Via Maggiore was for centuries the urban stretch of the Salaria road until, in the first half of the last century, the need to finally make it passable by car led to the decision, long opposed by the people of Acquasanta, to relocate the road to where it is now. Some of the houses that border it offer examples of Renaissance architecture with rusticated portals, travertine balconies, and beautiful windows. The cross vaults of the cellars (well restored in some shops) are characteristic and often provide access to the caves, unfortunately not sufficiently valued: from the Cagnano cliff to the Tronto River, they follow one another almost uninterruptedly, sometimes expanded by human hands to adapt them to their needs. On March 16, 1562, Acquasanta was almost completely destroyed by fire: since then it has also been known as “Case Bruciate” (Burned Houses). Thus the Magnificent City punished it for having supported Mariano Parisani, a noble-born Ascoli native exiled for serious crimes he had committed. Taking to the hills with a band of ruffians, he attempted to incite the Mountain Villages against Ascoli, sowing death and destruction until 1568. Acquasanta and subsequently Venamartello were the only ones to follow him in the endeavor. In front of Vicolo dell’Arco, a few steps, crossing the S.S. Salaria, lead to Via del Bagno and then to the Thermal area. Via del Bagno once originated from “Pozzo Rotondo,” one of the oldest districts of the town, recently called Ara or Piazza della Legna, now completely disappeared. The gentle descent of the course, leaving the steps of Via San Giovanni and a small two-arched loggia to the right, ends at Piazza Terme. It arose as a new square (in contrast, Piazza del Mercato will be Piazza Vecchia) with tourist and commercial purposes in 1845 following the modernization works of the Salaria road. The elevation of the Roman Bridge over the Garrafo stream, the construction of a new grand bridge over the Rio stream, the excavation 6 meters deep of the Maddalena hill, and the construction of retaining walls for the square have profoundly marked the urban layout of the town while significantly contributing to its economic growth. Until the early decades of the last century, the current square was occupied by gardens and houses descending towards those of Contrada Borgo above the Thermal Baths (now Borgo Tito Livio reduced to a few houses), gardens that extended to the districts of Pozzo Rotondo and Prato. The subsequent widening of the road and the construction of modern works, victims of other buildings on the north side, gave the square its current appearance. Before all this happened, the Salaria road left the town “Sotto il Passo.” A large barrel vault protected the space where the control of men and goods subject to customs took place, and until the 1500s, a small temple dedicated to Bacchus must have still been visible. From the pass, a road (now Tito Livio, still existing but awaiting restoration) descended to the Borgo and the Thermal Baths, while the main road, continuing towards Ascoli Piceno in steep descent, left the small church of Santa Maria della Croce (the Cona, also a victim of the Salaria) to the left, and the Giana spring to the right. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The rich thermal spring and the Salaria road, which has always crossed it, have significantly contributed to the prominence of Acquasanta over the vast and complex municipal territory of which it has been the capital only since 1866. 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