In the heart of the Mivola Valley, Ostra Vetere, formerly known as Montenovo, is a charming village squeezed between 14th and 15th century medieval walls along which three gates open.
Churches, prestigious residences and simple houses are preserved within the walls.
The terraced urban layout, linked by alleys and stairways, is dominated by the spires of the Church of Santa Maria di Piazza, a neo-Gothic jewel.
HEADQUARTERS OF THE MUSEUM CENTRE “TERRA DI MONTENOVO”
The “Museo Civico Parrocchiale” houses works ranging from the 15th to the 18th century.
Among them are two frescoes by the painter Andrea di Bartolo da Jesi and another by Dionisio Nardini of Sant’Angelo in Vado. By Cristoforo Roncalli known as il Pomarancio is Christ and St Peter on Lake Tiberias.
The Glory of Angels remains the only evidence of the activity of Giovan Battista Lombardelli, a painter born in Ostra Vetere around 1537.
Of great interest is the pair of polychrome terracotta plaques, rare examples of a type of devotional majolica. These plaques, depicting the Nativity and the Lamentation, are a rare and precious example of late 15th-century “majolica plastic”.
15th-17th centuries
In its elevated position, the building took on its current form in the 17th century, although it underwent considerable remodelling in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The municipal tower, designed by Michele Corazzini and Gerolamo Arcangeli from Ostran, was built in 1569 by Francesco da Modena and has a bell from 1643.
A metrical table from 1560 is preserved in the municipal residence.
A building of Renaissance architecture, it was built in 1513 by Antonio Poccianti whose family settled in Ostra Vetere coming from Ragusa (modern-day Dubrovnik, Croatia).
Antonio was physician to Charles VIII, King of France, and the building is softened on the left side by a characteristic loggia from which there is a view over the Nevola valley as far as the hills sloping towards Cesano.
