MACERATA

We continue to Macerata, where the Franciscan presence has largely been buried by history and the events of the 19th-century suppressions. Indeed, in this city, the capital and heart of the central Marche region, there have been significant and notable Franciscan presence over the centuries.

There was an early Franciscan site outside the city walls, in an area that continued to be called “Contrada di S. Francesco,” in the district of Santa Maria (S. PASQUARELLA, Dinamiche insediative dei Frati Minori nella Custodia di Camerino (secoli XIII-XV), Tesi di Laurea, Macerata, A.A. 2000-2001). It is in this ancient place and church that Blessed Paolo da Spoleto († March 31, 1241), the Provincial Minister of the Marche, was likely buried.

The second location, inside the city walls, was also quite old. The ancient seat was where the Palazzo degli Studi stands today and occupied almost the entire space of the current Piazza Cesare Battisti. Pope Innocent IV, in 1247, granted indulgence to those who helped the friars continue building their seat, and Pope Alexander IV did the same in 1257. The church was consecrated on Pentecost Day in 1385 and was enriched with many distinguished relics. It was one of the most beautiful Gothic buildings in the city. In this church, Blessed Fr. Pietro Mulucci, the second Bishop of the city and one of the early historians of the Holy House of Loreto, was buried in 1347. The interior contained seven chapels with paintings and artworks, including a terracotta piece by the Della Robbia brothers. It was consecrated once again in 1791. With the French occupation in 1810, the Convent was used for soldiers, then for the carabinieri, later as a women’s prison and a school. In 1815, the choir of the church was demolished. The church itself was demolished in 1824 to create Piazza de Vico or the market square, and the cloister was turned into a fish market. In 1931, what remained was demolished to build the Palazzo degli Studi (G. PASQUALI-M. TROSCÈ, Il Convento e la Chiesa di S. Francesco a Macerata. Una storia lunga sette secoli, Macerata, 2012).

The Friars Minor built their first hermitage, Santa Maria della Pietà, in Macerata in 1455, and subsequently, starting in 1507, the Convent of Santa Croce. The church is still used for liturgical and pastoral purposes, with an attached parish. The Convent, after serving as the civil insane asylum, is now partly the seat of the Local Health Authority. The friars left it in 1888. (A. TALAMONTI, Cronistoria dei Frati Minori della Provincia Lauretana delle Marche . Monografie dei Conventi, Vol. 3, Sassoferrato, 1945, 315-333).

Starting in the 1960s, the Friars Minor returned to Macerata, building the Church of San Francesco and the attached house, where they still engage in pastoral activities for the parish.

The Capuchin Friars had three successive Convents in Macerata. Firstly, they built the one of S. Stefano in 1540, still known as the “Old Capuchins,” near the S. Giuliano district, easily visible from the city’s ring road, to the northeast. Then, they changed to the one of the Immaculate Conception in 1600, which is the current hospital, with the remains of the church still present. Finally, in 1885, they built the current one, dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, in the Corneto area, serving as a parish and provincial infirmary.

The Poor Clares had various monasteries in Macerata: from the ancient one of San Tommaso and Santa Chiara, initiated in the 13th century and closed in 1808, which was converted into a prison and a courthouse; to that of San Lorenzo, closed in 1878, and that of San Rocco, with Franciscan tertiaries, suppressed in 1853. Finally, there were the Capuchin Clarisses, opened in 1631 and closed in 1883. Unfortunately, nothing remains of this rich presence, as only the Monastery of Corpus Domini, belonging to the Dominican Sisters and joined by the last Poor Clares from various monasteries, remains in Macerata today.