| 10th Century regarding its estates in Rimini, Senigalia, Osimo, Urbino, Pesaro and Morciano. Benno Pennone, feudatory of Morciano, bequeathed it in 1014 to his son Pietro, who in turn gave it to Saint Pier Damiani. In 1069, the San Gregorio Monastery was founded in memory of the event (of which today only the external structures are visible, having since been transformed into a farmer’s house). In Descriptio Romandiole (1371) Morciano is described as a small village almost abandoned because of the continuous floods of the Conca river. However, it remained a disputed market land because of its commercial customs’ duties and traffic. At the end of the 12th Century, the village and its market were conquered by Montefiore, while the rest of the area was left to San Clemente. In 1827, a Bull by Pope Leone XII terminates Montefiore sovereignty, and the small town is incorporated into the territory of San Clemente, which asked for control of commercial traffic in the valley. In the years that followed the unity of Italy, Morciano’s economy was mainly based on sharecropping agriculture. Along with markets, fairs were being held, the most important being San Gregorio fair, held on the spring equinox (March 21st) and documented since 1200. It represented the occasion to trade in cattle and agricultural tools as well as to worship the Magna Mater, the Mother Goddess of fertility. Markets and fairs took place in Piazza del Popolo, the town square once much larger than today, as neither the public buildings nor the Town Hall had been built yet. Soon the necessity (a sanitary one) to separate goods arose: cattle and smaller livestock were located on another site, while the other products were left in the square. Morciano also boasted a seed and silkworm cocoon market, which were sold under the Padajon, and on which, in 1929, the Town Hall was built. |
