Map - Recanati

Recanati is a town and comune in the Province of Macerata, in the Marche region of Italy. Recanati was founded around 1150 AD from three pre-existing castles. In 1290 it proclaimed itself an independent republic and, in the 15th century, was famous for its international fair. In March 1798 it was conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte.

The elongated historic center extends from one end to the other for over 200 metres and occupies an area of about 35 hectares. Its linear structure distinguishes it from most of the neighboring centers with a concentric plan, in which the inhabited area has extended from a central square. Along the margins of the central road, connecting the ancient housing clusters, there are numerous aristocratic buildings, for the most part on three floors, built by merchants or landowners.

It is the hometown of the tenor Beniamino Gigli and the poet Giacomo Leopardi, which is why the town is known to some as "the city of poetry". Famous medieval Ashkenazi Kabbalist rabbi Menahem Recanati flourished here in the 13th century. Teatro Persiani named after Giuseppe Persiani an opera composer, born in 1799, is located in the town.

The origin of Recanati is unclear, although the area was inhabited since prehistoric times by the Piceni. In Roman times, the river Potenza, which was navigable then, saw the rise of two cities: Potentia, which developed at the river's mouth, and Helvia Recina, located more inland. When the Goths led by Radagaisus ravaged the region around 406 AD, their inhabitants took refuge on the hills, perhaps founding the modern Recanati, which would take its name from Ricina.

The first document in which Recanati is mentioned dates back to a papal seal wrote in 1139: here it is cited the Santa Maria de Recanato church.

In the 12th century, during the controversies between Frederick Barbarossa and the Pope, Recanati expelled the feudal counts which ruled its area, and gave itself a communal constitution under the lead of consuls (consoli). In 1203 they were replaced by podestà. In 1228, Recanati sided with Barbarossa's nephew, Frederick II, who again was in conflict with the pope; for this reason, the town acquired the control of the nearby Adriatic shore, and the right to found a port (the modern Porto Recanati). In 1239, however, Recanati began to support the pope, and the following year Gregory IX gave it the title of City and bishopric seat that had been previously held by the nearby Osimo.

In this period, the development of trade and the demographic development lead to a progressive urban expansion: all the depopulated areas became populated and the original castles merged, so that Recanati become an actual united village.

In the early 14th century, the strife between Guelphs and Ghibellines, which plagued much of Italy, also affected Recanati. In a series of incidents, citizens of Recanati, among the others, ravaged and plundered the cathedral, and later killed some Guelph (pro-papal) exponents. In response, in 1322, papal mercenaries besieged Recanati, and destroyed its fortifications, the main Ghibelline palaces, and the Priors' Palaces. By 1328, the Pope had pardoned the city; however, her seat as a bishopric was restored only in 1354. In 1415 Recanati hosted former Pope Gregory XII, who died here two years later.

At the time, the town was home to a popular trading fair, which was further boosted by Pope Martin V in 1422.

Around the middle of the 15th century, the Jewish ghetto, previously located near the cathedral, was transferred, considering that it could interfere with the main Christian worship, along one of the alleys of Montevolpino.