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 APPOIANO

From “L’antico borgo di Palmiano”by Cristiano Peci

From Flash byLuigi Girolami

A small abandoned village, today very little of historical interest remains in this pretty place because of building reconstruction and acts of vandalism. The etymology of its name seems to be of latin origin, “pojum”, or knoll.  Historically linked to the events of Castel San Pietro, in the XIII century “Opliano” had a certain autonomy as a hamlet of the State of Ascoli.

In 1289 the village ran the risk of disappearing, when the Rector of the Marca Anconetana proposed concentrating its inhabitants in the village of Capodivena.  This was avoided thanks to the intervention of the city of Ascoli Piceno.

In 1387 it is to be found amongst the hamlets included in the estate of Castel San Pietro.  In the cadastre of 1381 it figures, in fact, as “Syndicatus Castri (o Castrum) Sancti Petri”.

In the XV century no record of the life of the hamlet has survived, but to compensate for this various lintels and jamb stones of 1522, 1570 and 1609 reveal a flourishing uptake of building directed by local workmen with stylistic freedom.

Between 1591 and 1592, the savage bandit Pietrangelo da Montecalvo, driven by hunger, descended on Appoiano with his followers, terrorising the 25 families that lived there.

In the hamlet, the hours of spirituality were spent in the church of St. Atanasio and officiated by the parish priest of Castel San Pietro.  In 1712, the inside of the church housed an altar, a cross, two candelabra  and two paintings of angels, the statue of St. Antonio da Padova and a canvas depicting the Virgin with Saint Atanasio.  The church was removed due to a decree sanctioning the reduction of churches and parishes in the Dipartimento del Tronto.

In 1808 Marche became part of the Kingdom of Italy and Napoleon downgraded Appoiano to the standing of a hamlet of Venarotta.

Normality was restored in the age of pontifical restoration, in the course of which Palmiano stole autonomy from Castel San Pietro.