1. Meaning of name

2. Sightseeing

3. History

4. Demographic evolution

5. Notes

6. References

Moresco borders the following municipalities: Lapedona, Montefiore dell'Aso, Monterubbiano.

Meaning of name

Moresco means literary "Moorish". According to legend, at the time of their raids along the Adriatic coast, a group of Moors went further into the interior in order to build a fortress in the heart of Christianity.

Others, on the contrary, maintain that the Castrum Morisci was built near the sea to drive back the assaults of the Saracens.

Most probably the place name comes either from a noble family named Mori, or from the word in dialect morrecine, which refers to the heap of stones on which the castle rests.

Sightseeing

• The outline on the horizon that immediately identifies Moresco is that of its 12th-century heptagonal tower, standing {{convert|25|m|ft}} high: why it was built with such an unusual number of seven sides is not at all clear – perhaps merely to distinguish it from the other watch towers in the defence system of Fermo. From the top of the tower on a clear day our gaze wanders from Mount Conero to the Gran Sasso mountain and onwards over to the coast of Albania.
• The large 16th-century bell still chimes every day in alternate succession with the bell on the Clock tower built to guard and defend the old entrance to the castle.
• After walking under the Clock tower, we come to the church of St. Sofia, whose original use has since changed: known as lu teatrì, it became a small theatre after its desecration. According to tradition it was built to commemorate a young lady, Sofia Amati, who had been raped and killed. Others believe that the mother of Saint Sofia was born in the castle. The church holds an interesting fresco by the school of Carlo Crivrelli (1430–95).
• Also worth a visit outside the town walls is the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Salute and the Church of St. Maria dell’Olmo, in particular, which was enlarged in 1521 to include an ancient Gothic shrine, which divides it into two parts with two different altars. Vincenzo Pagani was asked to embellish the altars, which he did by painting the fresco of the Crucifixion and the altar-piece of the Madonna kept in the Council Room.

History

• 1083, the name of Moresco is found for the first time in a parchment kept at Fermo.
• 1146, Tebaldus comes (Count) de Morisco is the lord of the castle who is named in some notarial deeds.
• 1248, the castle of Moresco is returned to the town of Fermo by Cardinal Raniero, the Apostolic Legate, after it had been taken away by the Emperor Frederick 2nd.
• 1266, the lords of Moresco sell the fortress to the Doge of Venice and podestà of Fermo, Lorenzo Tiepolo, for 500 Volterra lira.
• 1433, Count Francesco Sforza occupies the Marches and the entire State of Fermo. He remains in Monterubbiano for five months, and forces the citizens of Moresco to supply his troupes with wine, oil, hay, wood and money.
• 1481, the village is subjected to the rivalry between the towns of Ascoli and Fermo. A nobleman from Fermo, Pellegrino Morroni, is killed in the castle of Moresco by people from Monterubbiano.
• 1586, the Pope from the Marches, Sistus 5th, creates the Garrison of Montalto,
• 1648, a garrison of soldiers from Moresco, led by Giovanni Morelli, reaches Fermo to re-establish order after the killing of the Governor.
• 1848, Moresco is an autonomous commune, but in 1869, under the Reign of Italy, it is united with Monterubbiano.
• 1910, on 25 June Moresco wins back its autonomy by royal decree.

Demographic evolution

  id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)  id:darkgrey  value:gray(0.8)  id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1)  id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8)

  bar:1861 text:1861  bar:1871 text:1871  bar:1881 text:1881  bar:1901 text:1901  bar:1911 text:1911  bar:1921 text:1921  bar:1931 text:1931  bar:1936 text:1936  bar:1951 text:1951  bar:1961 text:1961  bar:1971 text:1971  bar:1981 text:1981  bar:1991 text:1991  bar:2001 text:2001

  bar:1861 from: 0 till:829  bar:1871 from: 0 till:839  bar:1881 from: 0 till:878  bar:1901 from: 0 till:966  bar:1911 from: 0 till:1103  bar:1921 from: 0 till:1002  bar:1931 from: 0 till:1051  bar:1936 from: 0 till:1062  bar:1951 from: 0 till:1100  bar:1961 from: 0 till:1025  bar:1971 from: 0 till:746  bar:1981 from: 0 till:604  bar:1991 from: 0 till:606  bar:2001 from: 0 till:608

  bar:1861 at:829 fontsize:XS text: 829 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1871 at:839 fontsize:XS text: 839 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1881 at:878 fontsize:XS text: 878 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1901 at:966 fontsize:XS text: 966 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1911 at:1103 fontsize:XS text: 1103 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1921 at:1002 fontsize:XS text: 1002 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1931 at:1051 fontsize:XS text: 1051 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1936 at:1062 fontsize:XS text: 1062 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1951 at:1100 fontsize:XS text: 1100 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1961 at:1025 fontsize:XS text: 1025 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1971 at:746 fontsize:XS text: 746 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1981 at:604 fontsize:XS text: 604 shift:(-8,5)  bar:1991 at:606 fontsize:XS text: 606 shift:(-8,5)  bar:2001 at:608 fontsize:XS text: 608 shift:(-8,5)

  fontsize:S pos:(20,20)  text:Data from ISTAT

Notes

References

• Ufficial Site
• The Most Beautiful Hamplets of Italy
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061105034115/http://www.provincia.ap.it/Moresco/ www.provincia.ap.it/Moresco/]

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