Santa Chiara, Val Canapina

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Santa Chiara, medieval chapel in the Val Canapina near Cammoro

Along the Via della Spina, coming from Campello and before reaching the junction for Cammoro, opens the Val Canapina, a name due to the ancient traditional cultivation of hemp. In the middle of the valley, on a small hill, is the small Romanesque church of Santa Chiara which was once dedicated to St. Paul, as mentioned in the Rationes Decimarum and the Pelosius Code of the 14th century, and the dedication to the saint is dated to 1333. Tradition has it that the saints Peter and Paul reached the Marche following the Via della Spina, which was one of the routes traditionally used by pilgrims.

Given the characteristics of the site it is likely that the church was built on the site of a pre-existing pagan temple and the road, now almost gone, which connected it to the castle of Cammoro is called Via Pagauccia still today. The first mention of the name of Santa Chiara is that of De Lunel in 1571 and the church was later described by Bishop Lascaris in 1713 as "Small longitudinal structure, with brick floor and roof, single door, single bell, single altar adorned with a mural painting with the image of the SS. Crucifix, of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John; it was used for the Tosti family burials ”. The church was restored in 2001 and the fresco of the crucifixion is present in the apse.