Abbazia delle Macchie

The Abbazia delle Macchie stands in the rural territory of San Ginesio. Its Romanesque crypt combines medieval construction with reused ancient material associated with nearby Urbs Salvia.

Why it matters

The abbey preserves the architectural and territorial history of a Benedictine religious centre. Its relationship with San Ginesio shows how monastic communities and their lands became part of the surrounding commune's development.

What to notice

The low crypt is divided by rows of supports beneath groin vaults. Brick columns and marble elements create a varied structural rhythm. Reused Roman fragments introduce an older layer into the medieval fabric. Above, the single-nave church and raised presbytery reflect a different spatial arrangement, altered by later work.

Context and history

The abbey is documented in 1171, although tradition assigns it an earlier foundation. San Ginesio incorporated the abbey and its lands into its territory in 1252. Later periods of commendatory administration changed its institutional life. Seventeenth-century renovation reshaped the upper church while the medieval crypt survived. Damage in the 2016 earthquakes added another conservation challenge to a building with several distinct architectural phases.