HISTORICAL NOTES

HISTORICAL NOTES

Cupra Marittima represents a unique case among the composite centres of the Marche coast, due to the lack of overlapping between prehistoric, Roman, medieval, modern and contemporary settlements.
Each area bears witness to a specific civilisation and presence for several centuries.
The modern part (Cupra Marittima) lies along the sea; the medieval part (the castle of Marano and S. Andrea) on two hills above and the Roman part (Cupra Maritima) is located about 1,500 metres north of the current centre.
The locality of Cupra Marittima was constantly mentioned in ancient maps, thus testifying to the great importance that this centre has had in the history of Italy, but also in that of the Mediterranean.

PREHISTORY

In the river terraces north of the Menocchia River and generally on the hilltops; of the hills are prehistoric deposits from the Palaeolithic, as well as Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements.

THE IRON AGE

The Iron Age (9th-5th centuries B.C.) encompasses a civilisation commonly referred to as Picenes.
In the years 1911-12, the Cuprense territory yielded a series of necropolises with rich grave goods, distributed in various museums in Italy, including the main ones: Ancona National Museum, Pigorini Prehistoric and Ethnographic Museum.
Typically, the grave goods present a range of objects such as ornaments (fibulae, armillae, pendants, etc.), weapons, vascular material both local and imported.
The best known deity of the Picenum Olympus is the Goddess Cupra, supposedly the 'Picenum' expression of the Mother Goddess, whose cult was widespread throughout the Mediterranean basin.
The goddess Cupra would be analogous to the Phoenician Astarte, the Greek Aphrodite, and the Latin Venus.

THE ROMAN AGE

The Roman centre of 'Cupra Maritima' stood in the area known until a few years ago as contrada La Civita.
Illustrious authors of the past have reported on this city: Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Pomponius Mela, Silio Italicus, Frontinus, Ptolemy.
Still visible are the remains of the urban defence walls, the west front of the Forum consisting of two honorary arches and the podium of the 'Capitolium', a mausoleum along the extra-urban street, the 'Mignini' walls, the cisterns known as the 'Baths of Nero', and the frescoed nymphaeum of the maritime villa.

MIDDLE AGE

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Barbarians from the 5th century onwards burst into Picenum and wiped out traces of art and civilisation.
The Christian religion is attested only in the 4th and 5th centuries A.C. with the cult of Saint Bassus, bishop of Nice and martyr, a saint whose spread covered the entire Adriatic, from Venice to Termoli.
The population of Roman Cupra moved to the hill still known today as Marano, where a medieval village was established; the hill of St. Andrew to the south of Marano and the hill of Boccabianca to the north were also inhabited.
Part of the population penetrated into the interior of the valleys, climbing other hills and giving rise to medieval towns such as Massignano, Ripatransone, Cossignano, Montefiore dell'Aso, Carassai and Campofilone.
One of the most significant monuments surviving the many vicissitudes of Marano is the church of S. Maria in Castello, the first parish of Castel Marano. Another surviving monument is the Francesco Sforza palace.
Cupra Marittima, was sacked on several occasions until it was completely destroyed in the 9th century, undergoing domination first by the Byzantines, then by the Lombards and the Franks, and finally by the Arabs.
The population moved over the hills, founding various castles including S.Andrea, Marano and Boccabianca.

THE MODERN ERA

Even in more recent times, the tradition of maritime trade persists.
Alongside commercial activities, which used medium-sized boats (trabaccoli), there was fishing, which used lancets and seines.
Regarding 'trabaccoli', at the end of the 19th century, the following were active in Cupra Marittima: the San Basso, the San Giuseppe, the Santa Maria, the Flora.