Saint Mary's Abbey in Potenza

 

In the south of the built-up area, not far from the arhaeological site of the ancient Potentia, stands a well-constructed complex covered with a very old tree-lined park. The structure, widely restructured all over the years, hosted for a long time a monastery-hospital run by the Order of Cruciferous. 

The Abbey, probably founded between 1160 and 1180, become the main settlement of the Order in the Marche and in a short time it bad large properties. In 1656 the Order of Cruciferous was dissolved by Pope Alexander VII. The Abbey's properties adn assets ended up in the resulted settled in the complex since 1794. In 1808 Napoleon confiscated all properties and assets and assigned them to the royal domain; in 1812 be garantes them to the viceroy of Italy Eugenio of Beaubarnais who remained the owner until his death (1824). On the second half of the nineteenth century, the ex Abbey and its land passed into the hands of a group of representatives of the rich Roman nobility.

If you arrive from the main road, you can notice at once the semicircular apse of what used to be the ecclesiastical building, decorated on top by a small loggia made in pure Romanesque style; Little is left of the interior.

As far ad decorations are concerned, the triptych kept on the altar (Virgin Mary with Baby, with Saint Bernard on her right and Abbot Saint Anthony on her left) is of Prof. Cesare Peruzzi, born in the nearby village of Montelupone (MC).


 
 
 

The Attractions of Porto Recanati

 
 Attraction location
 Accomodation
 Event
 Attraction
 

Itineraries to visit Porto Recanati