Marche · Ascoli Piceno
Monteprandone
A hilltop borgo above the lower Tronto valley, birthplace of San Giacomo della Marca and home to his fifteenth-century convent library.
Known for
SAN GIACOMO
Born in Monteprandone in 1393, Franciscan preacher and Marche peacemaker, founder of the 1449 convent and returned to its sanctuary in 2001.
CODICI
Eighteen manuscript volumes written by San Giacomo della Marca for the convent library, kept today in the Civic Museum of Codes.
TRONTO VALLEY
Hilltop position at 266 meters above the lower Tronto, five kilometers from the Adriatic and twenty from Ascoli Piceno.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
The festa: Giacomo della Marca, 28 November
Why come
Monteprandone sits on a hill above the left bank of the lower Tronto valley, twenty kilometers northeast of Ascoli Piceno and five from the Adriatic at San Benedetto. Tradition traces the founding to the ninth century and a knight from Charlemagne's court named Prandone, who built the first castle. A papal bull of 13 May 1323 granted the village in perpetual fief to Ascoli Piceno.
The defining figure is San Giacomo della Marca, born in town on 1 September 1393: Franciscan friar, student of Bernardino da Siena and Giovanni da Capestrano, peacemaker between Fermo and Ascoli in 1446 and 1463, traveller across Bosnia, Slovenia, Dalmatia, Hungary and Bohemia. He commissioned the Convento di Santa Maria delle Grazie in 1449 and built a library of eighteen manuscript volumes for friars and scholars, now in the Civic Museum of Codes. He died in Naples in 1476; his body was returned to the sanctuary in 2001.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Monteprandone’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
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What to see
Santuario di Santa Maria delle Grazie e San Giacomo della Marca
Franciscan convent commissioned by San Giacomo della Marca in 1449, holding his returned body since 2001 and works by Vincenzo Pagani and Cola dell'Amatrice.
Museo Civico dei Codici di San Giacomo della Marca
Civic museum holding the eighteen manuscript codices written by San Giacomo della Marca for the convent library he founded in the fifteenth century.
Centro storico di Monteprandone
Walled hill village above the Tronto valley, with surviving gates and stepped streets that climb to the church of San Nicolò di Bari at the summit.
Chiesa di San Nicolò di Bari
Parish church at the top of the borgo, holding fifteenth-century works tied to the Della Marca convent and a panorama over the Tronto plain to the Adriatic.
The slow-trip planner
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Living here
- Population 12,896
- Commuter belti
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest airport Ancona / Pescara, 1 h 19 min drive
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 14 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 266 m
- Population: 12,896
- Surface area: 26.38 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
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