Visso

the Pearl of the Sibillini

The Name

According to tradition, the first settlement was called “Vicus,” meaning “place” or “village,” accompanied by the adjective “Elacensis,” “respectable”.

The place-name “Vicanum” referred to the communal grazing and firewood-gathering lands (“vicana”) surrounding a vicus.

History

• 15th-9th centuries BC: according to some historic sources, the area was already inhabited around 1500 B.C. by Pelasgian peoples living in the Sibillini Mountains; its origins are in any case almost certainly pre-Roman.

• 295 B.C.: situated along the ancient border between the Umbrians and Sabines, the vicus was conquered by the Romans.

• 494-526 AD: Theodoric established a garrison of Goths in the vicus in order to strengthen his dominion over the “pagi” (villages) of the Valnerina.

• 579 AD: the village was subjugated by the Longobard Duchy of Spoleto, which ruled over its mountain villages through minor feudal vassals sent by the stewards in order to maintain peace and order and administer justice. Over the centuries the people of Visso organised themselves into a free Commune, proud and belligerent, continually at war with neighbouring communes until the end of the 1500s.

• 1455 AD: the Church, historically well-disposed toward Visso, grants the village various privileges, including independent civil and criminal jurisdiction and, in 1472, perpetual exemption from taxes and excises on imported goods.

• 15th - 16th centuries: due to plagues, floods and plundering by mercenary troops, this period of Visso’s history proved so disastrous as to be dubbed the “ruin of Visso”. The economic recovery which followed - thanks to Visso’s geographically strategic position along the commercial trade routes between Rome, Spoleto and the Marches - made possible the construction of beautiful Renaissance-style edifices which can still be seen today. Later, local handicraft and sheep-farming formed the backbone of Visso’s economic prosperity.

• 1583 A.D.: Pope Gregory XIII made Visso the permanent seat of the Church’s governorate, under the Apostolic Legate.

• 1828 A.D.: the Church confers on Visso the status of “city,” with all pertaining privileges.

• 1860 A.D.: the town is separated from the region of Umbria and incorporated into the Marches.

A magnificent piazza and decorative work by the local petraioli (stoneworkers).

Visso is an enchanting mountain village in the Marches region, situated along the Umbrian border. This “pearl” of the Sibillini Mountains (it is the seat of a national park) boasts a past rich in history: the imposing city walls, the medieval balconies, the houses, the towers, the noble Renaissance buildings, the stone portals embellished with Latin inscriptions and coats-of-arms, in relation to the limited size of the historic centre, come together in a harmonious and majestic whole.

The artistic marvels concentrated in this small area are such that one must agree with the great art historian André Chastel: “in the scenographic placement of piazzas and cities, the Italian genius had no rivals.” One need only observe Visso’s Piazza dei Martiri Vissani, where all is order, light, and harmonious lines: pure beauty.

The piazza is lined with elegant 15th- and 16th-century buildings and distinguished by two pre-eminent edifices: the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria and the Church of Sant’Agostino. The collegiate church’s original structure, in Gothic-Romanesque style, dates to the 12th century. It is dominated by an elegant bell tower with mullioned windows and embellished by a finely worked 14th-century portal on its facade, flanked by two proud lions. The lunette contains a splendid 15th-century fresco depicting the Annunciation, attributed to Paolo da Visso. The façade of the Church of Sant’Agostino (14th century) includes three spires with a portal and a rose window. Now deconsecrated, it is the seat of the Museum, which houses works belonging to the commune and the Church, the majority of which were located in various churches throughout Visso. The museum also preserves the manuscripts of six idylls by Giacomo Leopardi, including the famous “L’Infinito.”

The entire historic centre is highly evocative, with the Sibillini Mountains forming a crown around it and, on the inside, ancient towers, the four gates of the castle walls and Renaissance structures abounding in portals and windows in light-coloured stone carved by local craftsmen, the famous “Visso stoneworkers,” who also produced the 14th-century Baptistery in the ancient parish church next to the Collegiate Church.

Among the many remarkable buildings are the Palazzo dei Priori, the Governor’s Palace and the Palazzo del Divino Amore (the “Divine Love” building, converted from a 13th-century Franciscan convent and today the home of the Sibillini Mountains National Park board), enriching this village which seems to have been embroidered into the stone.

Outside the village, the Sanctuary of Macereto is worth visiting, built at an elevation of one thousand metres on the plateau of the same name dominated by Mount Bove. Constructed in the style of Bramante by Giovan Battista da Lugano between 1528 and 1538 around a smaller 14th-century chapel built to hold a miraculous statue of the Madonna, it is composed of three avant-corps with three richly sculpted portals, adorned with bas-reliefs and small columns topped by Corinthian capitals supporting a cornice with a triangular tympanum.

Tradition has it that on August 12, 1359, the mules transporting the statue came to a halt at the site of the current sanctuary and refused to continue. This remarkable stone structure was completed in 1558 by other masters who came from Lugano as well.

Adjacent to the sanctuary rises the Palazzo delle Guaite, constructed between 1571 and 1583, enclosed together with the Sanctuary by a wall with an internal portico which served as a shelter for pilgrims and animals.

Local Products

At the beginning of the 1900s, there were about 150,000 sheep in this area (the count was done using a wooden bar which blocked the flock entrance path).

Visso is thus represented by the “Sopravvissana,” a heavy and stocky sheep breed, very hardy and productive, from which an exceptional pecorino cheese is produced.

Local dishes

There is a local festival dedicated to ciauscolo, a sausage produced using a special processing method, in which the meat is ground and stuffed with spices.

But the strong and genuine flavours of this land also offer cheeses, which can be enjoyed at various stages of the ageing process, as well as Sibillini mountain lentils and spelt, and the mountain wether.

To round out the menu, there are dishes prepared with trout from the Nera River and, above all, with the prized black truffle.