Leaving Ripatransone, we head to Montalto Marche, which was once the seat of the ancient Diocese. Montalto had a very ancient Convent of San Francesco, probably initiated in 1215, as a commemoration of Saint Francis’ passage on his journey to Ascoli Piceno. It is located a few hundred meters from the city on the road to Montedinove. The Church was restored in 1336 and again in 1459, and the united chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary was erected in 1587. Pope Sixtus V, known as Father Felice Pieretti, was welcomed and educated in this Convent. Suppressed in 1810, it was reopened in 1824 and lost again in 1861. Regained in 1872, it was sold to a private individual in 1834 (G. PARISCIANI, I Frati Minori Conventuali delle Marche (sec. XIII-XX), Ancona, 1982, 313). Of notable interest is the 14th-century painted Cross from this ancient Franciscan place, now housed in the Diocesan Museum of the same city.
In Montalto, the Franciscan presence is enriched by the Monastery of the Poor Clares, founded by Pope Sixtus V in his adopted city. Official monastic life began on September 28, 1638, with sisters coming from the Monastery of S. Tommaso in Potenza Picena. Despite the two suppressions in the 19th century, the Monastery still thrives, recalling a long history of faith, devotion, love, and fidelity to the origins and development of Franciscanism in these regions of the province (G. PARISCIANI, S. Chiara e le Marche, Urbino, 1995, 87).