Santa Vittoria in Matenano is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Fermo The province of Fermo ( it, provincia di Fermo) is a province in the Marche region of central Italy. It was established in 2004 and became operational in 2009. Its administrative centre and provincial capital is the city of Fermo (population of 3 ...

in the

central Italian Central Italian (Italian: ''dialetti mediani'') refers to Italo-Romance varieties spoken in the so-called ''Area Mediana'', which covers a swathe of the central Italian peninsula. ''Area Mediana'' is also used in a narrower sense to describe the ...

region

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

, located about south of

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

and about northwest of

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; la, Asculum; dialetto ascolano: Ascule) is a town and ''comune'' in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is around 46,000 but the urban area of the city has more than 93,000. Geo ...

. Its name refers to Saint Victoria, some of whose relics were transferred in 827 by Abbot Peter of Farfa from the Abbey to Mount Matenano in the Picene area (roughly the south of Le Marche) due to

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

invasions.Santa Vittoria
/ref> Ratfredus, a later Abbot of Farfa, brought the body of Santa Vittoria from Farfa on 20 June 931. The 1966 published novel by Robert Crichton took place here.

Stanley Kramer Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous "message picture, message films" (he would call his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a libera ...

's ''

The Secret of Santa Vittoria ''The Secret of Santa Vittoria'' is a 1969 American war film distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Stanley Kramer and co-produced by George Glass from a screenplay by Ben Maddow and William Rose. It was based on the bes ...

'' (1969) was shot in

Anticoli Corrado Anticoli Corrado ( Romanesco: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about northeast of Rome. Anticoli Corrado borders the following municipalities: Mandela, Marano Equo, Rocca Cant ...

, because the town had become too modernized since the Second World War period in which the story was set.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Santa Vittoria in Matenano is twinned with:

Photos

* www.flickr.com/photos/21899366@N07/sets/72157622532347787/

References

Cities and towns in the Marche {{Marche-geo-stub