MONTEGRIDOLFO The Gateway
Fortified village
Church of San Rocco 14th century via Borgo
THINGS TO SEE
This is the fortified entrance to the village: the fine gate dates from 1500 but has been altered over the years. The gateway is guarded by a tower, and there are traces showing the existence of a drawbridge.
The layout is mediaeval, the rampart surrounded by stout walls and bastions. Within the walls, the village is a huddle of narrow streets, on to which open large mansions and small houses. The Town Hall is next to the gate; the other building of note is Palazzo Viviani, now a high-class hotel and restaurant, which stands on the foundations of the fortress. The village has kept its harmony through the changes of centuries. The view from the walls is splendid, encompassing the coast from Rimini to Pesaro, and the lower Foglia valley.
Once known as the church of Santa Maria, or as the Hospital church, because it stood next to the leper hospital, the Oratory of St Rock stands just outside the walls and houses three works of art painted one on top of the other in different centuries on the same piece of wall. Restoration work has detached and separated the three paintings, giving us invaluable records of different styles and periods in the treatment of the same Marian subject. The three paintings are: • Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Saints Rock and Sebastian, by an unknown artist from Le Marche (1427 ?); • Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Saints Rock and Sebastian, by Girolamo Marchesi (1520-1525); • Virgin and Child with Saints, by Guido Cagnacci (1623). In 1987 the Oratory was enriched with 14 terracotta tiles representing the Stations of the Cross, decorated in high relief by master craftsman Guerrino Bardeggia.
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