The church of Santa Maria della Marina is the principal church of San Benedetto del Tronto and, since 1986, the cathedral of the diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto; on 5 July 2001 Pope John Paul II raised it to a minor basilica. It stands on piazza Luciano Nardone, in the centre of the seafront town, and is dedicated to the Madonna della Marina, co-patron of the town and much venerated by seafaring families.
What to see
The first church of the marina was a modest building on the beach, completed in 1615 and known throughout the seventeenth century as the «church of the Madonna of the beach»: it was dedicated to Mary, Queen of victories and of the sea, in memory of the battle of Lepanto of 1571. In 1820 it became the town's second parish, and the design of the great new church was entrusted to the Bolognese architect Gaetano Ferri: the first stone was blessed in May 1847, but after 1860 work stopped with the walls a metre high, and remained suspended for about forty years. In 1898 a flood of the Albula stream brought down the old church on the beach.
The parish priest Francesco Sciocchetti raised funds through a popular subscription, with minimum shares of ten cents, and work resumed in 1901 on a reduced design by the architect Giuseppe Rossi, approved by Giuseppe Sacconi; the church, 70 metres by 24, opened for worship in April 1908. The furnishings of the old church were brought here, including the eighteenth-century altarpiece of the Madonna della Marina, attributed to Gennaro Della Monica. The six side altars come from demolished churches: three in marble from the church of San Filippo in Ascoli, bought in 1912, and three in wood from Sant'Agostino in Ripatransone. The Lourdes chapel displays the Roll of Honour of civilians lost at sea.
Visiting
The cathedral is on piazza Nardone, in the town centre. Opening and service times should be checked with the parish.
Our editors' tip
Since 1946 the square in front of the church has been named after Luciano Nardone, a Carabinieri marshal killed on the church steps by German soldiers on 28 November 1943.
