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Lanciano's virtual tour of the Civitanova district | Print |
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The Civitanova district was developed around the monumental Church of Santa Maria Maggiore. The church has a Cistercian style and is considered as one as the best Gothic examples in Central Italy, representing the decorative exuberance of Francesco Petrini and his school at its best. An inscription informs that this building – built on the ruins of a temple dedicated to Apollo – was founded in 1227 by the Maestri Borgognoni. The latest restorations, carried out in the latest decades, aimed to bring the church back to its 14th-century looks: they succeeded in removing the 18th-19th-century style and building a wall to bring the church back to its original three-nave structure instead of five naves (the building on the right dates back to the 16th century and includes the more recent naves, which are presently used as storerooms). The main portal – currently closed to the public and protected by an artistic wrought-iron gate – features a marvellous decoration with twisted columns and vegetable patterns; the lunette hosts a sculpture representing the Crucifixion and an inscription of 1317 by Petrini, who signed his masterpiece this way. The district – enclosed by an imposing wall under which there is the 19th-century Fonte Monumentale di Civitanova (Monumental Fountain) where women used to do the laundry until not long ago – was protected on the Apennine side by the Torri Montanare , built in the 14th and 15th centuries; thanks to their deep moat and other strategic devices, these walls represent a very well-preserved example of the ancient defence works that were necessary when invasions and pillage were an everyday occurrence.
 
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