Matelica, the town of Verdicchio, honey and Enrico Mattei, is located in the province of Macerata, in the Marche region. It lies at the centre of the Upper Esino River Valley, the only valley in the Marche that runs at least partially from north to south.
Its territory is mainly hilly and is surrounded to the east by the Monte San Vicino chain and to the west by the Umbro-Marchigiano Apennines.
Its origins are ancient and lost in the mists of time, just as the origins of its name are ancient and mysterious: in fact, there is no other place or city in the world with this name. And those ending with the same ending are very rare.
One thing is certain, at the time of the great Roman historian Pliny the Elder (died 79 AD) its name Matilica Matilicatis, had already been assigned to it.
The first evidence of the presence of man in the territory of Matelica dates back to the Palaeolithic period.
From the meeting of the Umbrians, an Indo-European population settled in the valley of the Esino river in 2000 B.C., with the Piceni, a population coming from Abruzzo and Ascoli, the first inhabited centre was probably born.
The incredible discovery of numerous grape seeds of 'Vitis Vinifera' in a Picenum tomb, which undoubtedly belonged to a person of princely rank, dates back to this period. This is extraordinary evidence of the very ancient origins of vine cultivation in this area.
Matelica was later conquered by the Romans and around the middle of the 1st century B.C. it became a municipality, and therefore could have its own political structure and was ruled by local people. A Roman domus and several mosaics remain from this period, which can be seen along Corso Vittorio Emanuele, protected by a transparent case.
With the advent of Christianity, the church gave itself a territorial organisation and Matelica became an Episcopal seat as early as 400 AD.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the bishop remained the only reference authority: the town suffered several barbarian raids and the population suffered from famine and invasions.
In 552, Totila's Ostrogoths clashed with the Byzantine general Narsete and this part of the territory came under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire. Totila died in battle and his tomb is in Matelica. The town experienced a short period of peace and prosperity.
But in 578 A.D., the new Lombard invaders arrived, and Matelica was destroyed, became part of the Duchy of Spoleto, and passed under the diocese of Camerino.
The population took refuge on the high ground inside a fortress and the medieval village began to form.
With the arrival of the Franks, the town was rebuilt and, after the coronation of Charlemagne in 800, feudalism began and Materlica became subject to the Counts representing the Emperor.
Although formally under the dominion of the Holy See, the town was incorporated into the March of Ancona and thus subject to imperial power. The most famous of these Counts, Attone, led some of the troops of Ugone, King of Italy, against those of the Duke of Spoleto, Ascaro, near Camerino in 964 AD, where both lost their lives.
During the rule of Frederick Barbarossa, around 1150, while the emperor was in Germany, the citizens of Matelica rebelled against the feudal Counts, replaced them with Consuls and formed a free municipality.
There were then new wars and in 1174 the Archbishop of Mainz Cristiano, loyal to Pope Alexander III, razed the town to the ground once again.
In the meantime, the Duchy of Spoleto, to which Matelica belonged, after various vicissitudes that saw its borders changed and its territories separated or joined to the March of Ancona and Romagna, became part of the Papal States in 1198.
Consequently, in 1266, papal authority was re-established in Matelica and the territory came under the direct control of the Holy See.
From the end of the fourteenth century the vicariate of the city was entrusted by Pope Boniface IX to the Ottoni, who began a tax reform, promoted the development of the wool, dyeing and tanning industries, restored the walls and built the bell tower of the cathedral. At the beginning of the 16th century they also expanded trade and roads, so that there were as many as one hundred and ten merchants in the town.
In 1576, after much infighting within the family and numerous trips by citizens to Rome to complain about the excessive cruelty and tyranny of the Ottoni, Pope Gregory XIII definitively removed the vicariate of Matelica from the Ottoni.
In 1618, Pope Paul V Borghese entrusted Matelica to an independent governor, which is why Paul V's coat of arms can be found on the doors of the main public buildings.
In 1692 the townspeople made peace with the Counts Ottoni, appointing them honorary citizens, and in 1761 the town became an episcopal see again.
With the arrival of Napoleon in 1796, due to the suppression of the bishopric and the liberalisation of trade, Matelica suffered a sharp industrial decline.
The return under the Papal State, in 1814, was almost a relief for the population, which nevertheless hoisted the tricolour flags on the Town Hall during the uprisings of 1848, also known as the springtime of the peoples. In 1861, the 'yes' vote for union with the Kingdom of Italy won by an overwhelming majority.
The new situation brought back free trade and activity changed from industrial to agricultural, impoverishing the entire population.
During the Second World War, Matelica hosted a battalion of Italian soldiers, who, after the armistice, were hidden by the inhabitants and, together with local youths and some foreign soldiers, formed the local resistance.
After the war, thanks also to the interest of Enrico Mattei, important clothing and metalworking industries were established. This new wealth also benefited agriculture, which specialised in livestock breeding, beekeeping and above all viticulture.
The famous Verdicchio di Matelica DOC is an excellence known throughout the world.
Cover photo by Erminio Burzacca
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