Pioraco

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Pioraco
Comune di Pioraco
Coat of arms of Pioraco
Location of Pioraco
Map
Pioraco is located in Italy
Pioraco
Pioraco
Location of Pioraco in Italy
Pioraco is located in Marche
Pioraco
Pioraco
Pioraco (Marche)
Coordinates: 43°11′N 12°59′E / 43.183°N 12.983°E / 43.183; 12.983
CountryItaly
RegionMarche
ProvinceMacerata (MC)
FrazioniSeppio
Government
 • MayorGiovan Battista Torresi
Area
 • Total19.5 km2 (7.5 sq mi)
Elevation
443 m (1,453 ft)
Population
 (31 December 2010[2])[3]
 • Total1,307
 • Density67/km2 (170/sq mi)
DemonymPiorachesi
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
62025
Dialing code0737

Pioraco is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) southwest of Ancona and about 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of Macerata.

History[edit]

The territory of Pioraco was settled in the Neolithic Age, as shown by the remains of a Bronze Age sanctuary on the top of Monte Primo (late 11th-early 10th centuries BC). In Roman times, Pioraco was a settlement on a branch of the Via Flaminia, with bridges, temples, public edifices and an aqueduct.

In the Middle Ages, it housed a castle which was a residence of the Da Varano family, lords of the nearby Camerino. The presence of paper mills, still active today, is attested from 1346.

Main sights[edit]

  • San Vittorino: Pieve or parish church with baptistry, documented from 1119, built atop the remains of a Roman temple, using spolia. It houses frescoes and baptismal font from 1646.
  • San Francesco: a Romanesque-style church completed in 1327, with a polygonal apse. The interior was remade in Baroque style: it houses an Annunciation attributed to Arcangelo di Cola and a Via Crucis by Francesco Mancini. The annexed convent has a frescoed cloister.
  • Santissimo Crocifisso: a church built in Lombard-Gothic style. It is home to a Crucifix attributed to Girolamo di Giovanni.
  • Madonna della Grotta: small 18th-century chapel/church built in a niche in the rocks, used as hermitage. It has a 15th-century wooden statue of the "Madonna with Child".
  • Roman Bridge.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  2. ^ All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat.
  3. ^ "Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018". Italian National Institute of Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2019.