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

The view that stretches out from the portico is deep and wide. It loses itself in the horizon, but also allows the observation of the “Marina”, that part of the town that had developed since the 18th century because of the great quantity of land that became available after the retreat of the waters, and the worsening state of the geological conditions of the town.

The urban plan of 1779, drawn up by the architect Pietro Augustoni and approved by Pope Pius VI, is laid out in an orderly manner and describes the nucleus of the old town. The structure is formed by a series of perpendicular roads that the Church of San Pio V, the fulcrum of the original project. The dimensions, the shape of the cupola and the bell tower render the church highly recognisable from a distance. Begun in 1780 upon a project by Augustoni, it was completed only much later by Vespignani, and even the nearby bell tower was built only in the 1940s by the architect Emilio Ciucci. 
 In the panoramic view that we have before us, one can clearly see the edifice of the train station. The railway network reached Grottammare in 1862, immediately following the Unification of Italy, and its presence initiated a period of rapid development for the town that, starting from the second part of the 1800s, had become a famous bathing resort.
Grottammare became the town in which many well-to-do families established their “second homes” or “seaside homes”, bringing about a new system to the coastal zone with the construction of holiday villas and the first hotels. We can see, observing from here, that these buildings were situated right on the shore itself, in the narrow strip of land between the railroad and the sea. The wide tree-lined roads that make up the present-day seaside boulevard, embellished with plants that are characteristic of the Mediterranean climate such as maritime pines, oleander and palm  trees, were established during this period. Viale Marino dates from 1890 and a project of building development of the new residential area that exalted the characteristics of a seaside resort with wide and regular roads and isolated checkerboards of villas at the sea was established in 1909. The first villas date from the end of the 1800s, but the period of greatest construction fervour was between 1911 and 1930, when approximately 50 vacation villas were built. Not only were there villas close to the sea, but some buildings also entered into the fabric of the town.
This period of time, that stretches from the end of the 1800s to the first years of the 1900s, coincides with the dominance of Art Nouveau, in its Italian variation known as Liberty. It is a style that left traces throughout the Marches around 1910. Characteristic, indeed, and visible from our position, are the covered roof-terraces in the form of towers and the style of the buildings with sloping roofs that take their inspiration from Alpine chalets. Eeven closer observation helps us to appreciate the singular characteristics of these buildings both in their architectural structure and in their frescos and use of decorative ceramic ware. One of the most significant examples of Liberty architecture in Grottammare is Villa Matricardi-Cola, dating from 1913, recognisable in the sinuous forms of its tower. Villa Marucchi also is worthy of mention. Dating from the 1920’s it is similar to a castle. This building, following the serious damage it underwent due to the explosion of a railway train during the Second World War, was rebuilt with the addition of two floors and painted in bright red. Looking more closely, we notice an isolated villa in a green area, under the city wall of the town. The house belongs to the Fazzini family and was built for Pericle Fazzini, an important  Italian sculptor of the 1900s and creator of “The Resurrection”, the famous work that one may view at the Vatican. To our right, directly next to us we have the majestic tower, the Torrione, also known as “Della Battaglia” that currently houses the museum dedicated to the sculptor.

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