What is Offida known for?

Bobbin lace worked in town since the fifteenth century, with women still using wooden bobbins on the piazza and a dedicated museum in Palazzo De Castellotti. Wine designation covering Pecorino, Passerina and Rosso Piceno Superiore, grown on the surrounding Piceno hills between the Tesino and Tronto valleys. One of the oldest carnivals in the Marche, with the Bove finto run and the Vlurd fire bundles, dated to before Lent in early February.

Offida is a comune in the province of Ascoli Piceno, Marche region of Italy, about 91 kilometers from Pescara.

Marche · Ascoli Piceno

Offida

A hill borgoin the Piceno wine country, with a Romanesque-Gothic cliff church and women still working bobbin lace.

91 km / 57 mi

Nearest hub (Pescara)

4,647

Population

Apr–Oct

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Offida sitson a cliff between the Tesino and Tronto valleys, twenty-three kilometers from Ascoli Piceno. The Chiesa di Santa Maria della Rocca rises on a rock spur at the western edge of the village, surrounded on three sides by cliffs that drop into two valleys: a Romanesque-Gothic temple in brick and travertine, raised by Master Albertino in 1330 on an older Benedictine foundation, with a double row of trilobed arches around the apse. Inside, the apse and transept hold the fresco cycle of the Master of Offida, an anonymous monk painter who carried Giotto's lesson through the Rimini school, with the Marriage of Saint Catherine and Saint Christopher dated by inscription to 1367. Bobbin lace, merletto a tombolo, has been worked in town since the fifteenth century; the Museo del Merletto in Palazzo De Castellotti holds the collection. The Carnevale Storico, with the Bove finto run and the Vlurd fire bundles, dates from before Lent in early February.

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Gallery

5 photos · scroll →

Known for

Chiesa di Santa Maria della Rocca
Romanesque-Gothic brick-and-travertine church raised in 1330 by Master Albertino on a rock spur west of town, with the Master of Offida fresco cycle dated 1367 in the transept.
Museo del Merletto a Tombolo
Inside Palazzo De Castellotti, with the lace collection, tools, historical documents and demonstrations of the bobbin-lace work practiced in town since the fifteenth century.
Palazzo Comunale
Civic palace on the long Piazza del Popolo, with a portico, the Teatro Serpente Aureo and the access to the Museo del Merletto and the archaeological museum.
Teatro Serpente Aureo
Eighteenth-century horseshoe theatre inside the Palazzo Comunale, named for the gilded serpent on the municipal crest, with three orders of boxes.
Piazza del Popolo
Triangular main square of the centro storico, framed by the Palazzo Comunale and noble palaces, the centre of the Carnevale Storico runs in February.

When to visit

Best months · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

April through June and September into October are the best months for Offida. The hills around the town turn green by April and gold through the September harvest, the wine cellars run open tastings between vendemmia and St. Martin, and the Pecorino and Passerina vineyards stand out along the ridges. July and August touch the low thirties; the centro storico quietens through midday. November through March is cooler and quieter, with the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Rocca on reduced winter hours and the lace makers back to home work. The Carnevale Storico in early February draws crowds back for a week, with the Vlurd torches and the Bove finto run through the streets.