Travelcast Piceno - Audio & Video Guide per la Provincia di Ascoli Piceno

We now find ourselves in Piazza Peretti, which gets its name from Felice Peretti, Pope Sixtus V, who was born in Grottammare in 1521. It could be because of its dimensions or the design of the brick buildings, with their delicate and natural colouration, that this plaza seems to be particularly welcoming. It is a closed, protected space,  but it is also a strategic vantage point and an important urban junction.

Four roads come together in this plaza: the one we just left, Via San Giovanni; one that runs parallel to it, passing along the other side of the church and then another two, one at the right and one at the left of the building that currently houses the “Osteria dell’Arancio” but at one time, as the writing on the façade demonstrates, was the general shop of the town. We invite you to see the delightful road on the left because, being closed at the end, it is particularly short. Through the one on the right, though, we can reach the other parts of the town. The plaza, the centre of the life of the town, was enlivened by continual chatter and the comings and goings of people, which has been replaced by an almost unnatural quiet and tranquillity.
At this spot, the buildings that are the symbol of this town face one another: the antique town hall and the theatre with its portico, and on the right, the Church of San Giovanni, from the end of the 1700s. The particularly small proportions of the building that served as Town Hall are related to the code that was introduced by Fermo and maintained until the 18th century. This consisted of two representatives for the general assemblies of the State and a local Parliament comprised of 48 members  from the most important local families. The building of the Theatre dell’Arancio stands out, on the other hand, for its distinctive characteristics. Within its façade is the Civic Tower of the town, divided with a vertical band from the rest of the building. Looking at the construction as a whole, we see the result of various successive phases. In the tower itself, closed at the summit by a bell tower with vaunting cell, there is a niche with a statue of the Madonna and Child and the circular clock in stone, donated in 1857 by Pope Pius IX. Observing the rest of the building, we see how the harmonious arrangement of the façade, the arcade with deep rounded arches and the regular positioning of the windows, is interrupted by a central element: the niche with the bronze statue of Sixtus V. Without significant sculptural qualities, it was made by the Swiss artist Stefano Interlenghi in 1794. Its base has a memorial tablet with a dedication to the Pope. The building, given its characteristics, could be dated to the 16th century with a foundation that is even older, considering the irregular plan. Furthermore, there are the remains of prior constructions underneath the flooring of the portico. It is a 16th century building upon which one can trace elements that date to the urban renewal of the entire plaza that was entrusted to the architect Pietro Maggi at the end of the 1700s.  The construction of the Church of San Giovanni is his work as well as the bell tower with vaunting cell and the niche with the statue of the Pope that are located at the centre of the façade. The Theatre housed within this building is also attributed to Maggi. Constituted of three orders of tiers, decorated with carved wood that was painted in white and gold, it was active up until 1908, when the last show was presented and the theatre was closed for safety reasons. The structure was entirely dismantled in 1918, and the wood was used to make coffins for the  of the numerous victims of the Spanish Flu pandemic that spread at an alarming rate. Despite the destruction, the building has maintained the name of Theatre dell’Arancio, which is derived from the orange tree on the city’s emblem. In recent years the Theatre dell’Arancio has been restored and its intimate setting hosts concerts and shows. In the underlying hall, a museum dedicated to the painter from Grottammare, Giacomo Pomili, known as “Il Tarpato” will be established.

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