Churches:
Santa Maria delle Grazie (1646)
The main point of interest in the church itself is its connection with the annual flower festival, the Infiorata, which focuses on the church, and the holy mass at the culmination of the festival is held here.
About one kilometre from Montefiore, among green fields beside the road to Carassai, stands a simple little church of great importance to the local faithful. It is the small rural church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, commonly referred to as the ‘Madonnetta’ or little Madonna.
In the past this church was known as the Madonna dei Cocomeri (Our Lady of the Watermelons). It was built in 1646 with public donations, on the initiative of a local lady, Lucrezia Caffarini.
In 1717 the local congregation had the church enlarged with the addition of a portico. Above the altar there is a seventeenth century fresco of the Madonna and child.
This is a typical example of a rural church of the Marche, which, with the name of the Madonna of the Graces, speaks of the deep attachment of the country people to their religion, and perhaps to some miraculous event connected to the place.
Address: Strada Provinciale 58, 1, 63062 Montefiore dell'Aso
