RIPATRANSONE, DIOCESE OF. – In the province of Ascoli Piceno, from which it is 48 km distant, 9 km from the sea, at an altitude of 508 m, on steep hills between the Menocchia and Tesino streams. Over an area of 227.25 km², it has 9,034 resident inhabitants and 8,897 present (1951 census).
Almost impregnable because of its position and the very strong ancient walls, it was called the “propugnaculum Piceni” [bulwark of Picenum].
The first population nucleus dates back to the 10th century BC, as suggested by lithic finds and a large cypress-covered cemetery. According to local historians, R. originated from Cupra Montana, today a small town in the province of Ancona; others derive it from Cupra Marittima, the ancient city and religious centre of the Cuprenses, situated on the sea about 2,000 paces north of the present homonymous town. The Romans, towards the end of the 11th century BC, established a military colony at Cupra, whose inhabitants, during the period of the barbarian invasions (5th–6th centuries), took refuge on the hill of R., which seems to have borne the name of Mons Cuprae. For three centuries (10th–12th) R. was a fief of the Dransone and Trasone family, whence the present name, derived from Ripa Transonum, as is indicated in the Constitutions of the March of Cardinal Albornoz (1357), in which R. is listed among the civitates mediocres [middling towns]. Others derive the name from trans Asonem [beyond the river Asso], in relation to other localities situated to the north of R. At the end of the 12th century, R. appears to have been formed by the union of four castles: Monte Antico, Capo di Monte, Agello, and Roffano. In 1212 a commune was constituted; it then underwent various vicissitudes: sieges, sackings, and fires at the hands of Fermo, the Malatesta, F. Sforza, and the Spanish, from which it was freed in 1521.
Pius V, with the bull Illius fulciti praesidio of 10 August 1571, declared R. a city and diocese, with territory taken from Fermo, Teramo, Ascoli Piceno, and the possessions of the abbeys of Farfa and Campofilone. Sixtus V, with the bull Universis orbis Ecclesiis of 24 May 1589, elevating Fermo to an archdiocese, established R. as its suffragan.
Pius V reduced the 14 parishes, which were too numerous in relation to the population, to four, one for each quarter: S. Benigno (existing before the year 1000, later declared the cathedral), S. Angelo, S. Niccolò, and S. Gregorio Magno. Later, the parish of S. Gregorio was demolished to build a new cathedral (since the first was insufficient) between 1597 and 1623, completed at the end of the 18th century, with final works executed in 1842. At present R. has 22 parishes: 7 in the city and 15 in the diocese, distributed across the communes of Cossignano, Cupra Marittima, Grottanmare, S. Benedetto del Tronto, Acquaviva Picena, Monteprandone, and Colonnella (the last in the province of Teramo).
Besides the cathedral chapter and numerous secular clergy, the diocese of R. is home to Augustinians, Observant Franciscans, Conventuals, Capuchins, Passionists, Sacramentines, and various female communities that run educational institutes, schools, and orphanages. The local minor seminary provides for lower studies; for higher courses, students are sent to the regional seminary of Fano. At present the diocese of R. is united *in persona episcopi* with that of Montalto.
Among the various institutions to be noted are the Monte di Pietà, dating to 1471, the hospital of 1505, and the School of Manual Labour and Education, the first in Italy, founded in 1889 by Emidio Consorti of R.
Personages. – In R. and its diocese many distinguished figures for learning and sanctity were born: St James of the Marches and Blessed Rita in Monteprandone, Blessed Sante of the Observant Franciscans in R., Blessed Alberto in Cossignano, the Venerable Lavinia Semardi-Giammarini in Grottanmare; Apollonio Petrocchi (15th century), a celebrated woodcarver; A. Condivi, pupil and first biographer of Michelangelo.
Monuments. – R. still partly presents a medieval aspect, although little remains of the original Romanesque church forms. Notable are: the apse (9th century) of S. Niccolò; the Romanesque portal of S. Maria d’Agello; the Romanesque-Gothic portal of S. Angelo, which still preserves its ancient primitive crypt. In the Cathedral, splendid examples abound of wood sculpture (altarpiece, episcopal throne, magistrates’ bench) by Desiderio Bonfini of Patrignone (17th century); a St Charles by Guercino, a St Gregory, a fine statue by Fedele Bianchini of Macerata, one of the best followers of Canova; in the chapel of the Most Holy Virgin, a most venerated image of the Madonna of Loreto. In S. Caterina or S. Agostino (Gothic elements on the flank), 15 panels with the Mysteries of the Rosary by A. Condivi. Notable are the 18th-century interiors of the churches of S. Chiara and S. Filippo. Important is the Palazzo del Podestà, now the Town Hall, of 1304. In the Museum and Picture Gallery are important paintings, archaeological objects and curiosities, medals, coins, maiolica, etc.
PP. 7–10; L. Serra, in Rass. marchig., 4 (1925–26), p. 191; M. Morgana, La Biblioteca di R., in Accademie e biblioteche, 4 (1930–1931), pp. 167–70. Carlo Carletti