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Fermo ToGo is an [[Itineraruy] through the historical uptown of Fermo, capital of the ominus province in the Marks. On foot or by car, visit Fermo!
Introduction
[edit]A one-day itinerary to discover the most interesting monuments of a town that will not keep you still (“fermo” in Italian means still i.e.). Among evocative alleys, monumental squares, wide views of the Light Blue Mountains or the blue Adriatic Sea, discover the jewels of the city and immerse yourself in the timeless charm of an historical place that preserves medieval connotations together with nineteenth-century modernism, without forgetting the natural and historical captivations of its fractions, starting with Torre di Palme.
Fermo is “ToGo” because togo means "beautiful, nice" in Fermo’s slang, with a word of Jewish origin that tells the story of the community that lived in the ghetto until a couple of centuries ago.
When toGo
[edit]The itinerary is practicable all year round but preferably in good weather for the pedestrian path.
To whom it is addressed
[edit]The itinerary opens to everyone, but for those who have problems or limitations to their mobility could be difficult to reach some sites, also because of the frequent and steep climbs and descents.
How to get there
[edit]By Plane
[edit]Template:Simbolo Aeroporto Raffaello Sanzio di Ancona-Falconara. From here it is then possible to reach the city by car through the A14, by train (from the station of Ancona to that of Porto San Giorgio) or by bus.
Template:Simbolo Aeroporti di Roma (Roma-Fiumicino and Roma-Ciampino). From here there is a daily bus shuttle service that allows you to arrive right in the city center.
By Car
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Drive along the A14 Bologna-Taranto highway, until the exit Fermo-Porto San Giorgio. Take the SS16 Adriatica northbound, then follow the road signs.
By Train
[edit]Template:Symbol Get off at the railway station of Porto San Giorgio. Fermo. Next to the railway station is the bus stop where to get the one to Fermo downtorm (there is, in fact, a circular line with a 20 minutes frequency). If, instead, you want to reach it by cab, the stop is just outside the train station and the distance of the journey is about 6 km.
By Bus
[edit]Template:Symbol The principal national lines of the Center Italy stop in the city center.
Preparation
[edit]Being a city itinerary, characterized by ups and downs and by the classic paving of sanpietrini , it is advisable to wear comfortable shoes. A map of the city is a must-have for any traveler, and can be found at the ticket office of the city museums or at the Civic Library (both on the north side of Piazza del Popolo), or at the tourist information point (located at the terminal of the parking lots). Don't forget to check the days and opening hours of the places you want to visit.
STOPS
[edit]ROUTE 1 – on foot
[edit]The itinerary starts from 1 Piazza del Popolo, on whose northern edge is the building of the 2 Palazzo dei Priori with the Sala del Mappamondo from which, accompanied by the museum operators, you can reach through guided tours both the ancient 3 Roman Cisterns both the 4 Teatro dell'Aquila (all three can be visited with a single ticket). From Piazza del Popolo, going up to the top of the Fermo hill, crossed the gardens of the Girfalco so as to arrive at the 5 Cattedrale di Fermo. From this stage, descending on the northern side of the hill along via del 6 Roman Theater, you walk along the remains of the ancient Roman site to reach, once down the hill, the medieval 7 Torre Matteucci located at the bifurcation between Corso Cavour and Corso Cefalonia. Walking along Corso Cefalonia towards Piazza del Popolo, one descends on the left towards via Recanati and then via Perpenti, so as to find oneself in front of the 8 Chiesa di San Francesco, which constitutes the extreme eastern limit of the city center of Fermo. From here, after having descended to Piazza Dante and walked 100 m of Viale Trento in an easterly direction, we find on the right at the first roundabound, the 9 Fonti di San Francesco from Paola, the finish line of our pedestrian itinerary.
1. Piazza del Popolo
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Our itinerary starts from Piazza del Popolo, the urban and social heart of the city of Fermo. Once through the arch in the municipal building, which represents the architectural diaphragm between the square itself and the street that leads to it (called ‘’"Strada Nuova"’’ - ’‘new street’’ - by the locals because of the nineteenth-century reconstruction), the square opens up with its imposing structure, with the two loggias to the east and west and with the arch in the building of the Municipal Library, under the clock, which mirrors the southern one we are entering from. Accuracy and linearity are the characteristics of a typically fifteenth-century layout that structures the 135 meters long and 34 meters wide square in the city's living room.
2. Palazzo dei Priori and Sala del Mappamondo
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Facade of Palazzo dei Priori
Sala del Mappamondo- At the top, the Passetto
The regularity of the geometry of the Loggias, which accompany us in the longitudinal development of Piazza del Popolo, is interrupted on the right by the opening on Palazzo Dei Priori, the medieval seat of the city government. The building in its grandeur and magnificence celebrates the greatness of the city, which was an important municipality of the late medieval Marca. Formerly “Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo” – ‘’the Palace of the Captain of the People’’ -, since 1396 the building houses the College of Priors that will characterize, until today, not only the internal structure, but also the name. Seat of the city art gallery as well as the archaeological museum, the palace has the peculiarity of hosting the Sala del Mappamondo, the original nucleus of the city's civic library, built within an environment that previously housed a theater. With its structure of shelves that entirely cover the walls in their total verticality, the Sala del Mappamondo is characterized by the great Globe of the Earth's surface, made in 1713 by the abbot Amanzio Moroncelli and by the archpriest Filippo Antonio Morrone, its client. Completed in 1688 on request of Cardinal Decio Azzolino, the room was structured as a Library thanks to the walnut shelving and decorated with a carved fir ceiling. The important function that the historical library of Fermo had in the city of that time confirmation by the so-called Passetto, an aerial gallery that connects the Palazzo dei Priori, its seat, with the Palazzo degli Studi, seat of the university at the time and currently of the Civic Library Romolo Spezioli.
3. Roman Cisterns
[edit]The great Roman cisterns, also called ‘’Piscinae Epuratoriae’’, are a wide hypogeal complex in brickwork dating back to the end of the first century B.C., the only one of its kind in Italy in terms of extension.
4. Teatro dell’Aquila
[edit]- Detail of the chandelier
Adjacent to the town hall, the monumental building of the Teatro dell'Aquila – ‘’Eagle Teather’’ - shows nothing of its splendor and function from the outside. The 124 boxes and the 5 tiers crowning the stalls open onto a 350 square meter stage; the extraordinary acoustics and the richness of the decorations (the ceiling storm in primis) connote the richness of the details.
5. Fermo’s Cathedral and Girfalco’s gardens
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Facciata della Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
Interno della Cattedrale
Giardini del Girfalco
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Leaving the Theater and gaining the highest part of the city, the so-called Girfalco, which dominates with its belvedere all the Adriatic coast that was the possession of the medieval municipality of Fermo, we reach the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, seat of the metropolitan Church and the Archdiocese of Fermo. The imposing building, with its façade in Istrian stone in typical Gothic style, is striking for its architectural dualism: the initial part is typically medieval, and survives not only in the façade but also in what was the narthex (external part of the church with the function of a short entrance) of the original church, followed by a neoclassical architectural structure. The latter was built in 1781 by the archbishop Andrea Antonio Silverio Minnucci who had the church almost completely demolished, since the affection of the Fermo people prevented the completion of the façade, which still survives. Internally, the church is characterized by a three-nave layout separated by round arches, while the crypt corresponding to the apse of the altar remains from the original nucleus of the paleochristian church, on which the next stratification was built.
6. Roman Theatre
[edit]- Remains of the Roman Theatre
- Via del teatro romano
Leaving the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and keeping its imposing bell tower to the right, descending from the northern side of the Girfalco gardens, we reach the Roman theater. Although there are no ruins or superficial architectural elements that testify to its structure, it is the general urban layout of the place that bears witness to it: built on the Greek model, taking advantage of the orography, its stalls and its tiers clearly delineate the courtyard of what was, at first, the Carmelite Convent, then the seat of the archiepiscopal seminary and finally the courtyard of the ‘’Artigianeli’’ Institute. The building just mentioned rises above the curtain of the ancient theater, whose remains are in the foundations of the surrounding buildings.
7. Matteucci Tower
[edit]Continuing our descent, we reach the Matteucci tower, which stands isolated next to the headquarters of the local Cassa di Risparmio and is the last element of a medieval palace, belonging to the Matteucci family, on which modern buildings have been built over the centuries. The tower has a square plan, it is about 25 meters high and presents on its southern side, at about 6 meters from the ground, what was its original entrance, since it was connected to the medieval building through an aerial bridge, as a proof of its defensive function at the time of its construction.
8. San Francesco Church
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Facciata della Chiesa di San Francesco
Continuing along the Fermo ring road and going back towards the south you will see the eastern polygonal apse of the Church of San Francesco. This church, which was originally built by the Minor Friars close to the walls, but outside of them, although it presents a facade remodeled in the eighteenth century in neoclassical style, it preserves a typically international Gothic interior, where the stained glass windows characterize, with mystical lighting, the three-nave structure, divided by slender pillars that lead to the altar. The apse, polygonal as we said, determines a chromatic spectacle with the windows all decorated in Gothic style.
9. San Francesco's Springs
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Walking a few meters of Viale Trento we will reach the last stop of our itinerary. The fountains of San Francesco da Paola, or rather the medieval public fountains. They are a system of fountains inside an arcade of round arches, on the edge of a small vertical wall of which they are also the embankment. Once called ‘’Fuori Porta’’ Springs, this site represents a rare testimony of fourteenth-century hydraulic work still perfectly working.
ROUTE 2 – by car
[edit]Having reached the top of the Fermo’s hill and parked the car in the parking lots of Girfalco, we find ourselves in front of the monumental 1 Cattedrale di Fermo.. From here, walking along the city alleys or moving on the more comfortable route of Via Mazzini (anyway we don’t suggest to use the car yet), we descend to reach Piazza del Popolo, on whose northern edge is the 2 Palazzo dei Priori with the Sala del Mappamondo.. From this stage we can also reach the 3 Roman Cisterns. being included in a tour with guide that starts from the Palace itself. The Template:See name=Gate of San Giuliano, fourth stage, can be reached going along Viale della Carriera and skirting the ancient medieval walls that are intact in many parts. From the door, continuing along the ring road that skirts the hill of Fermo, we continue until we reach the 4 Church of San Francesco., being able to park either to the side of it, or just below in the convenient parking lot. Leaving again for our last stop, we pass near the 5 Fonti di San Francesco. from Paola and from here we proceed in an easterly and then southerly direction towards the village of Torre di Palme where we visit the 6 Church of Santa Maria a Mare..
4. ‘’San Giuliano’s’’ Gate
[edit]Descending from the Fermo’ hill towards its western side, we reach Porta San Giuliano, returned in 2000 to the ancient splendor of the medieval walls, with the restoration of the battlements and the recovery of the ancient facade.
7. Church of Santa Maria a Mare
[edit]
In the picturesque setting of the village of Torre di Palme, which stands on top of a dead cliff, the church of Santa Maria a Mare is the only one with a bell tower. Remodeled on the outside over the centuries, it preserves the simplicity of its original Romanesque architecture, which remains reserved inside in a single-nave structure. The sobriety of the furnishings and ornaments, from later periods than the original building, is combined with stone elements bearing Templar symbols.