Monteprandone is located in the sub-Apennine area of the Marche, to the left of the lower river Tronto valley and at the south-eastern end of the Province of Ascoli Piceno. Its name is made up of the term monte (mount) and the name of person of Germanic origin Prando, Prandonis, that tradition identifies as Prandone or Brandone, a warrior and follower of Charlemagne. Some of the 14th /15th century fortified walls are still intact, that contain the medieval gate of Borgo da Monte. Religious buildings of note include, near to the residential area, the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie and the Franciscan Convent complex, built in 1449 by San Giacomo della Marca, the town’s most illustrious figure, whose remains are conserved in this church. The convent cloisters are now home to the Museum of the Sanctuary of San Giacomo della Marca di Monteprandone, which mainly contains items to do with the life of the saint, including his chalice, robes, seals and manuscripts, an ivory tryptic in dating from the early 15th century, and a splendid Reliquary bust of San Giacomo carved in wood, gilded and painted, a work of startling realism crafted in Naples between 1612 and 1615, a Via Crucis from the early 1700s taken from the Franciscan church and items fabricated in China, imported by Franciscan missionaries at the beginning of the 20th century. The Church of San Nicola di Bari should also be visited, which contains a 14th century wooden cross and a pipe organ made to the design of the Perugia-born Angelo Morettini in 1839, one of the first modern organs enclosed in a wooden sound box with one compartment.