Imperial Basilica of Santa Croce al Chienti

On the right bank of the river Chienti, before its mouth and a short distance from its confluence with the Ete Morto, stand the remains of the abbey complex of Santa Croce al Chienti. Historians trace the origins of the monastic foundation back to the 9th century; initially dedicated to San Salvatore, it is already mentioned in the year 884 (in a document of Charles the Fat), in connection with grants in favour of the monastery, to be used also for the restoration of the church. Further donations were made to the foundation in the year 897 (by the Emperor Lambert). In the 10th–11th centuries, and for part of the 12th, it enjoyed the favour of the German emperors, until the year 1165, when the abbey was annexed to the monastery of Fiastra, becoming one of its dependencies, albeit with special privileges, such as the prerogative of electing its own abbot and autonomy in managing the properties belonging to the abbey. Major restorations affected the monastery buildings again in the 17th century, when it became a kind of farmstead (owned by the Bishop of Fermo). Many parts, especially those belonging to the monastic quarters, have been lost. Little survives of the medieval structures, since the church “was for a long time used as a hayloft, partitioned in several places, raised in height” and given over to secular use. Scholars suggest that some parts of the façade and of the east end date from the Romanesque period. Nothing would appear to remain from the early medieval period. The basilica has a nave and two aisles, a triple-apsed east end and red brick masonry. Certain architectural features (a basilica with nave and two aisles divided by cylindrical piers, a presbytery raised above the crypt and a triple-apsed choir) date this building to the 12th century: according to some, on the basis of the capitals of the nave, in some respects comparable to examples in the abbey of Chiaravalle di Fiastra, the construction of this building can reasonably be dated to around the year 1170. The building now appears severely decayed and completely abandoned. Numerous building interventions already in the Romanesque period can be discerned. The façade is now badly disfigured by the addition of a portico and part of a farmhouse, as well as by alterations to the upper parts carried out in the Neoclassical period. The façade is built of brick. On the outside, the upper part seems to have been completely rebuilt. Under the eaves of the aisles there survives the decoration of two-coloured small blind arches, six on each side. The south side is not visible, as it is covered by various recent buildings. The north side, by contrast, can be partly read: apart from the eaves of the nave, which have been completely rebuilt, the upper part of the side aisle preserves the decoration of small blind arches which, starting from the apse area, would seem to be older, though poorly preserved; it consists of small arches with a double frame, with attempts at a colour effect achieved by combining small red bricks with ochre ones of the same size, and occupies the space of two bays, while for the other four bays, up to the façade, the small arches are formed by a single frame, of the same colour and the same terracotta material as the adjacent masonry. Five windows with radiating crowns, plus one suppressed to make room for a door with an outside staircase, were in all probability opened when the side was rebuilt from the third bay up to the façade. The pilaster strips that articulate these four bays are wider than those dividing the first two bays. Particularly noteworthy is the material used for the phase defined here, arbitrarily, as the oldest: terracotta of various sizes and shades, irregularly laid, which, starting from the apses, also continues in the lower part of the building up to the fourth bay, whereas in the rest of the masonry the material, still brick, becomes more homogeneous and the laying more precise. The three apses are devoid of decoration, except for traces of pilaster strips (four on the main apse and two on the minor ones). Numerous windows have been opened in the three apses at various times. The presence of a large window in the central apse can, however, be discerned. Interior: owing to the danger of collapse and the rather uneven floor, as well as the presence of various bulky materials, it is almost impossible to read: the first two bays of the nave, starting from the entrance, are marked by two compound piers of light brown local stone on each side, culminating in capitals, three of which are undecorated, while the last one on the left is decorated with a floral motif and spirals. The other bays up to the apse are supported by smaller compound piers. Two column capitals barely protrude from the ground near the main apse, probably remains of the old vaulting system of the crypt. The raised inner presbytery area is severely decayed and altered, partly as a result of the use of the interior spaces as dwellings and farm storerooms.