Located on the slopes of Mount Ascensione, Rotella is an ancient circular settlement, a shape that is probably the reason for its name, which means “wheel”. The town belonged to Farfa Abbey from the tenth century and the old part has retained its Medieval appearance, well documented by the remaining fortifications and monumental clock tower.
In addition to the historical centre, Rotella is worth visiting because it is close to Mount Ascensione, formerly known as the “black mountain” due to the presence of ancient chestnut groves that are still a feature here. From Rotella village it is possible to reach Mount Ascensione along various hiking trails, and as well as offering vast and wonderful views, these paths reveal ancient rural churches or places of worship, testimony of the strong religious sentiment that underpins the local community.
Just outside the town is the church of Santa Viviana or “delle Icone” with precious polychrome stuccowork depicting the Virgin and Child. At the hamlet of Capradosso, along the path that leads to Mount Ascensione, it is worth seeing the Madonna della Consolazione shrine and the oratory church of Santa Maria in Verdiente.
The shrine of Madonna della Consolazione or Montemisio is located in a small clearing at the foot of Mount Ascensione, and was built by the monks of Farfa on the ruins of a pagan temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis, and the origin of the Festa delle Canestrelle, which still takes place here on 15 August, may be connected to this.
Santa Maria in Verdiente is a small oratory church with a rectangular plan and trussed roof, built by Farfa monks, also in the fourteenth century. A precious cycle of frescoes attributed to the Master of Offida was commissioned by the Capradosso community during the epidemic of plague that hit the Piceno area in 1457–62.
Lastly, in the village of Poggio Canoso we find the church of Santa Lucia and the small church of San Rocco.
Not far from the centre, in the Mount Ascensione woods, there is still an old Franciscan convent, suppressed in 1650 and where tradition says that Saint Francis of Assisi spent the night. The convent church has an ancient reliquary with a fragment of the Cross of Christ, the donated to the community by Pope Nicholas IV, a native of Lisciano, in the municipality of Ascoli Piceno.
