Visso

At 608 meters above sea level, Visso is a beautiful, perfectly conserved historic center in the mountains whose elegant medieval and Renaissance buildings, which make up a harmonious whole of notable dignity, tell the story of a distinguished, well-to-do life.
There are scarce testimonies of its ancient origins. From the 7th to 11th centuries, it was part the Pontano steward, then a free commune; then it passed with alternating series under the Church, the Duke of Spoleto, the Da Varano di Camerino, then it returned to the Church and permanently remained in the Papal State until 1860.
The city is very much characterized by the presence of water, that flows, pours, and rustles everywhere, now brook, now fountain, now small lake; in fact, when the original inhabited area was destroyed by an earthquake, the hill was abandoned by the inhabitants who then constructed their new homes in the basin between the shores of the rivers, Ussita and Nera.
The beautiful Porta Santa Maria gives access to the main piazza, a true urban "living area", meeting point for inhabitants and vacationers that love to stop at the various cafés with outdoor tables, enjoying the scenery of the beautiful buildings that look onto the piazza: the 14th-century façade of the ex-church of Sant'Agostino, spire with Gothic portal and rose window, where the Museum-Picture Gallery has its headquarters today, and to its side the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria, it, too, from the 14th century, with main entry made up by an elegant portal with round arch. The Collegiate Church has one nave and on the internal walls there are many frescoes from the 14th-15th centuries, notable for the color, especially that of the apse done by an unknown master from the Marches; some works, paintings and frescoes, have been transfered to the Museum-Picture Gallery next door.
In the piazza, among various gastronomic specialty shops (all of the area is very well-known for its salami, cheese, mushrooms), very full during summer or winter vacation, also opens the headquarters of Monti Sibillini National Park, where find excellent documentation.
In the immediate vicinity, one of the most interesting places , at about 6 km away, is the Sanctuary of Macerato.
You go up to about 1000 meters by a very pleasant street, which twists among woods and fields with little traffic, until reach a spacious, sunny high plain where the building, the Sanctuary of Macereto, rises in almost total isolation and with the mountains in the background.
Elegant, entirely done in local stone, the church was built around 1530 in Brahmanism form. Inside is an oratory from the 14th century, built on the model of the House of the Madonna of Loreto, to house the miraculous wooden statue of Mary. The statue is held today in the museum-picture gallery of Visso. The indoors is very attractive and there are many famous paintings.
A large wall enclosure closes in both the church that is next to the Guaite building and defined by the vast areas of field with a portico that served as a shelter for pilgrims and even animals; in fact, until the middle 1900's, it was famous for the animal fairs that took place here periodically.
A place where it seem time hasn't passed.