Overview
There really is no shortage of surprises in Ancona. Amidst warehouses, slipways and ferry ticket offices, we suddenly come across the reliefs around the portal of St. Maria della Piazza: peacocks, foliage, bearded men with their heads down, cats and elephants seem to mock us as we wonder where they came from. But even the feast of small arches drawing the marble of the façade would suffice.
All of this probably dates back to the 12th century, although a church here must have existed from AD VI or even AD IV, perhaps on walls and towers of the Roman Ancona at the time of Emperor Trajan. Less recent is the upper part of the façade, rebuilt after the earthquake of the late 17th century, which would not be the last in history to devastate the Marche region and all of central Italy.
The interior of the church shows signs of an elongation of the nave and central apse carried out in the 13th century and a later elevation of the nave with support on octagonal pillars. One ascends to the presbytery via a high flight of steps to discover a 16th-century wooden crucifix in the apse. Crystal floor slabs and a descent into the basement reveal structures, frescoes, mosaics with geometric and figured motifs that belonged to the early Christian church.
