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Roccafluvione in the Province of Ascoli Piceno

The town which we currently know as Roccafluvione was founded in 1863. Its inhabited area originates near the old castle of Rocca di Casaregnana, which were joined by the castles of Osoli and Rocca Reonile in 1866. The place-name derives from the nearby Fluvione Torrent. Its vast territory includes thirty-one separate hamlets. The landscape (whose altitude shifts from 216 to 1050 metres) is varied. From the flat valley, where the administrative centre of Marsia (whose name eventually derives from the marsi people) developed, one can reach the heights of a hill and mountain setting.

Roccafluvione has two valuable Romanesque churches as evident signs of the civilization brought by the Benedictine monks, to whom the history of the place is strictly linked.
The parish church is an interesting stop on the itinerary. It is dedicated to St. Stefano (XIIth cent.) of Benedictine origin. It has an imposing apse façade and its crypt, discovered in 1934, is divided into three naves by pilaters having massive sculputed capitals. Less famous but nontheless worth considering is the parish Church of Sts. Ippolito and Cassiano from Pedara (XIIth cent.), characterized by a massive belfry built to defend the Fluvione banks.

Worth visiting, in an uncontaminated and luxuriant setting by the hamlet of Casacagnano, is the "Natural Bridge" (Ponte Nativo) - so-called centuries ago, it shows the whims of nature as tied to the creativity of mankind. Two arenaceous rocks slid down the two opposite banks of the Fluvione forming a natural bridge on which a tiny church (chiesa di S. Antonio) was erected in 1700.

The stream dives into a suggestive waterfall near the hamlet of Arena. At Roccafluvione there are the remains of many old water mills, one of which is still functional and can be seen along the road to nearby Osoli.

Given the extention of the territory, in any quarter one chooses, one will find historical-artistic beauty and natural suggestions worth a visit. This task is made simple with the aid of the of the many itineraries suggested and widely signaled by the local Pro-Loco.

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