Macerata is a city in central Italy, the capital of the province of Macerata in the Marche region.
The centro storico is located on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza rivers. Together with the modern town, sprawling on the plain below, it has a population of about 41,000. There is a lift (elevator) connecting the two towns. The majority of the buildings in Macerata were originally constructed between the 1600′s and the 1900′s. The central piazza is the Loggia dei Mercanti and hosts two-tier arcades dating from the Renaissance.
There are a number of striking palazzi, mostly along Corso Matteotti, including Palazzo dei diamanti. Next to the Loggia dei Mercanti, Corso della Repubblica leads to Piazza Vittorio Veneto where, in the Palazzo Ricci, there is a museum and art gallery. Perhaps the most important artpiece is the Madonna and Child by Carlo Crivelli. Another large museum is the Museo delle Carrozze (carriages). The cathedral dates from the 1100s. Nearby is the University of Macerata (founded in 1290) and an art school. Two publishing house, Liberilibri and Quodlibet, are based in the town.
The Palazzo Buonaccorsi was built in the early 1700′s for Count Raimondo Buonaccorsi and his son Cardinal Simone Buonaccorsi using designs by Giovanni Battista Contini. The piano nobile is known for the Sala dell’Eneide, decorated with frescoes by the Rambaldi, Dardani, Solimena, and canvases by Garzi. Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole painted a canvas.
Just north of the town, at the Villa Potenza, lie the remains of ancient Helvia Recina, a Roman settlement destroyed by the Visigoths. South of the town is the Romanesque church of San Claudio al Chienti. Its unusual shape is due to one church being built on top of the remains of another.
Famous residents include:
- the mathematician and humanist Matteo Ricci. Ricci was the first western man to enter Beijing in 1601 and to translate into Chinese many Western classics like Euclid, Cicero and many others,
- Giuseppe Tucci (1894-1984), the Italian scholar of oriental cultures, was born in Macerata. He is the recipient of the 1978 Jawaharlal Nehru Award for international understanding and a pioneer of archaeological excavations in various locations in Asia, from Iran to Tibet,
- the painter and Bauhaus architect Ivo Pannaggi who was born and died in Macerata (1901 to 1981) after living in Rome, Berlin and in Norway.
Frazioni (suburbs) of Macerata include: Acquesalate, Acquevive, Botonto San Giacomo, Botonto Sant’Isidoro, Cervare, Cimarella, Cincinelli, Collevario, Consalvi, Corneto, Helvia Recina, Isola, Madonna del Monte, Montanello, Piediripa, Sforzacosta, Valle, Vallebona, Valteia, Villa Potenza
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