Cabernardi
At approximately 10km from Sassoferato there is the village of Cabernardi that, between 1886 and 1959, lived a flourishing period thanks to the extraction of sulphur. Until mid-1800, to the main activity of the village was agriculture however, with the discovery of a considerable deposit of sulphur, the mining activity became the main activity providing employment not just to the ones living in Cabernardi and Sassoferrato, but also to the ones living in near towns.
Rotondo
Rotondo village is situated 10 km from Sassoferrato and only 3km from Cabernardi. First references to the castle and the fortress date back to a 1078 document, in which the fortress is mentioned as one of the most ancient and best fortresses of the area. This structure is due probably to the Spanish cardinal Egidio Albornoz who, after having built the Rocca of Sassoferrato to restore the power of the Holy See, he was able to finish even this second fortress thanks to the confiscated goods from the Conti Atti of Sassoferrato after they were banished. In 1552, under the orders of Giulio III, the fortress was armed.
Coldellanoce
Coldellanoce is located 5km from Sassoferrato and lies at the entrance of the valley formed by the mounts Gallo, Le Siere and Puro. The village was a feudal castle whose origins are still unknown, even though its presence is mentioned with the name of Colle Nucis at the beginning of 1200. It seems that in mid-1200, Federico II gave it to the ancestors of Pandolfo Collenuccio (1444-1504), an illustrious humanist and a politician that descended from the Collenucci family, native of Sassoferrato.
Monterosso
Monterosso is located on the north-west side of the municipality of Sassoferrato and covers a vast area that includes different urban settlement. It seems that it was one of the five fortified castles on the municipality area together with Sassoferrato, Rotondo, Castagna and Venatura. There are two religious building left in Monterosso: the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Capatoro and the parish church of Sacra Famiglia, in a renaissance style and with a big dome and two side chapels. The Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie is important from the religious point of view because it was the first church in Italy to be devoted to the Sacra Famiglia (the holy Family).
Venatura
Venatura is located at the feet of Mount Strega and is about 8km from Sassoferrato. It seemed to be a fortified castle, named Castrum Venatoris. Documentsabout this village date back to the half of 11th century and seem to imply that in 1400 it was completely abandoned because the lords of the different castles moved to Sassoferrato. In 1314, this small village gave birth to an illustrious figure of Sassoferrato, Bartolo da Sassoferrato. Nowadays, we can see a marble gravestone in his memory inside the family household.
Cantarino
Cantarino is located about 2km away from Cabernardi village. Its construction in 1919 is due to the constant growth in number of the mine’s workers. The new work possibilities made it necessary to build new houses for the immigrated miners and their families. It was then that Cantarino was built, a new village characterised by identical dimensions’ houses and by “Palazzone” or “Cattedra” that prevails on the other accommodations. In the village’s little church, built out of the structure where the miners went after their shifts, there arevaluable findings of the community’s history, among which the statuette of Santa Barbara (miners’ protector) coming from the 13th level underground of Cabernardi’s mine.
Montelago
Close to Mount Strega, about 10km from Sassoferrato there’s Montelago village. It seems that the village is named after a lake, which dates back to 11.000 years ago and disappeared due to erosion about 2000 years ago.
