The Church of Santa Maria, known by all as the Chiesetta di Portonovo, is a place of peace and serenity overlooking the sea of the Riviera del Conero.
What remains of the church today is actually part of the remains of an ancient Benedictine abbey erected at the beginning of the year one thousand, inside, despite the centuries that have passed, you can still feel an atmosphere of meditation.
Santa Maria di Portonovo is a jewel of Romanesque architecture, unique not only in the Marche region and the Conero Riviera, but in the entire peninsula: only in Corsica and Normandy are there equally significant examples.
The exterior is in white Conero stone, while inside you can still admire the original flooring in yellow stone and terracotta. The church has 5 naves, the last two on the sides were added in a later period, which make the plan a curious encounter between the basilica and the Greek cross. The pretty central dome has an elliptical shape and on the outside the octagonal shape is softened – like the apse – by a series of blind triple lancet windows that lighten the structure and the view.The place where the little church of Portonovo rises is certainly suggestive: on one side the blue waters of the sea and on the other the green of the wood, a perfect location for the monks who were looking for peace and serenity far from everything.
