Camerano

Camerano has remote origins: the oldest finds date back to prehistoric times. Picene and Roman artifacts have been found, now partly preserved within the Municipality and others in Ancona. During the Middle Ages, Camerano established itself as an independent castle and became the seat of important monasteries. It is said that Saint Francis himself, during a journey to the East, stopped in the village and founded the Church of San Francesco. Camerano was then part of the Papal States, like much of central Italy. The 1900s was the most important century for the development of various industries, including that of shirts and that of accordions.

Home of D.O.C. wine Rosso Conero, full-bodied and structured wine made from Montepulciano grapes, every year, the first week of September of each year, the town lights up with the Festa del Rosso Conero.

The subsoil of the historic center of Camerano is characterized by numerous communicating caves with a labyrinthine shape, dug into the sandstone. For a long time it was believed that they were the remains of ancient sandstone quarries for storing wine. But the explorations, the interpretations carried out and the tourist itineraries have revealed the presence in almost all the environments of architectural embellishments, bas-reliefs and decorative details that are not very suitable for sandstone quarries or simple storage rooms: domed, ribbed, barrel vaults , circular rooms and columns of particular architectural taste, decorations with friezes, ornamental motifs and religious symbols are one of the constants of the entire itinerary. They reveal to the often astonished eyes of the visitor an almost fairy-tale underground country, full of charm, a secret Camerano in which history and legend find concreteness. The most plausible interpretation today is that of a residential, ritual, and defensive use even not very remotely, given that in 1944 the entire underground system was used as a refuge for the population against the bombings.

The Caves can be accessed directly from the IAT – Tourist Office (Tel. 0717304018) – For online reservations CLICK HERE