Macerata

Macerata stands on a hill between the Potenza and Chienti valleys in the Marche. It became a commune in 1138, and its university traces its origins to 1290. In 1320 Pope John XXII transferred an episcopal see to the town, strengthening its institutional importance within the Papal States.

In the sixteenth century the town's defences and civic spaces were altered; the merchants' loggia dates from 1504–1505. The scholar Gerolamo Zoppio founded the Accademia dei Catenati in 1574. During the upheavals of 1799, fighting and the entry of French troops were followed by looting.