Find out Camerano
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Camerano is a small town inserted in the Conero Park, famous mainly for its underground city, the Rosso Conero and the painter Carlo Maratti.
Camerano is part of the Conero Riviera. Its panorama, halfway between the sea and the hills, is made up of a succession of gentle slopes that descend towards the Aspio river.
The village also offers various possibilities for recreation and numerous events, accompanied by excellent food and wine. Camerano is also characterized by a history of artisans and manufacturers, still present in the small town today.
To be seen
One of the most famous tourist sites in the Conero area are the “Grotte” di Camerano. The Camerano Caves develop under the historic center, reaching a depth of 20 meters: at the beginning it was thought that they were the remains of sandstone quarries, but speleologists have concluded that it was the underground city of Camerano, whose origins date back to prehistoric age.
The 4 main rooms of the underground complex are: Mancinforte Cave, Ricotti Cave, Triumph Cave and Corraducci Cave. TheUnderground City of Camerano is excavated in the sandstone and runs through the subsoil of the historic center with a labyrinthine pattern. Many believe that the numerous tunnels were the remains of ancient sandstone quarries or places for storing wine. The explorations, the interpretations carried out and the tourist routes, however, have revealed the presence of architectural embellishments, bas-reliefs and decorative details that are not very suitable for sandstone quarries or simple storage rooms. You can see domed, ribbed, barrel vaults, circular rooms and columns of particular architectural taste, decorations with friezes, ornamental motifs and religious symbols along the way.
Located in the Conero Regional Park, Camerano is the ideal starting point for various excursions. Among the many, the most famous is the Boranico route, indicated by path number 317, in the direction of Varano.
Among all the events that Camerano hosts, the Rosso Conero Festival is the most important: it is the event dedicated to DOC wine produced in the Monte Conero area. On the occasion of this you can taste the local specialties in the historic center of the city: starting from the famous red wine of the province of Ancona, the Martini ice cream or you can sit in one of the many banquets set up and order a rich menu of local dishes . Generally the festival lasts 3 days, from Friday to Sunday evening, and takes place in the first week of September. Participation is free.
History
The archaeological finds have reported news of a first human settlement on the hill since the Neolithic era (3rd millennium BC), however Camerano was born as a village of huts on the top of a "gradina" in the Piceno period. We have evidence of this thanks to the discovery of a necropolis made up of more than one hundred Picene tombs dating from the 11th to the 3rd century BC, demonstrating the fact that the town was one of the first Picene inhabited centers in the Marches. The material found is kept in the National Archaeological Museum of the Marches in Ancona; some finds of Celtic, Greek and Picene origin, on the other hand, are kept on site at the Antiquarium Comunale.
The inhabited center decreased in importance during the Roman period and the people dispersed into the countryside, while, in the Middle Ages, a rebirth of the same took place, which led to the birth of the current historic center.
In 1625 the painter Carlo Maratti was born, a central figure of Roman and Italian painting of the second half of the seventeenth century.
From 1797 to 1798 it was occupied by the Napoleonic troops and, later, between 1815 and 1819, the municipality faced a period of severe famine.
Camerano was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1860 after the battle of Castelfidardo. After the Second World War and the German occupation of 1943, the municipality was liberated by the allies in 1944; during the same period, the labyrinthine caves were used as a refuge for the population against the bombings.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, craftsmanship developed, which still characterizes the economic life of the town. In the 1960s, Camerano became a real industrial centre, with the establishment of numerous artisan and industrial enterprises, above all in the sector of musical instruments and, later, in the working of wood, metals, plastics, clothing and production of wine, the Rosso Conero, which still make the name of Camerano famous everywhere today.
