Agriturismo Vecchio Frantoio in Ascoli Piceno

Agriturismo Vecchio Frantoio: location

Rosara is a hamlet of the municipality of Ascoli Piceno. The wooded slopes of Monte di Rosara drop steeply toward the Castellano stream, opposite the village of Castel Trosino.

Agriturismo Vecchio Frantoio: what to see nearby

Among the woods of Monte di Rosara, below the travertine cliff and overlooking the Castellano valley opposite Castel Trosino, are the remains of the convent of San Giorgio. Founded in 1343 as a leper hospital at the wish of the noblewoman Livia Martelleschi, in 1382 it was turned into a hermitage by the followers of Friar Angelo Clareno, with the support of Bishop Pietro III Torricella. Passed to the Friars Minor Observant in the 16th century and becoming private property after the Unification of Italy, it was long used as a stable and storehouse and today is a ruin overgrown with vegetation, to be viewed only from outside.

It is called San Giorgio ai Graniti because it stands below the travertine cliff, or San Giorgio in Salmasio, from the "fonti salmacine" (salt springs) below. According to tradition, ancient May rites were celebrated in the mountain's woods, and the dedication to the saint who defeats the dragon was linked to the sulfurous vapors of the stream. The nine-arched portico looks over the valley; on the entrance side a three-arched portico preserves remains of frescoes with episodes from the life of Saint Francis. The bell tower, damaged by the 1972 earthquake, collapsed two years later.