Offida & the Lace Tradition

Offida is a beautifully preserved hill town in the southern Marche, set among vineyards and olive groves in the Ascoli Piceno province, and certified among the most beautiful villages in Italy. Its most distinctive feature is the unusual triangular main square, the Piazza del Popolo, framed by the crenellated Palazzo Comunale and the Loggia, around which the life of the town revolves. Offida is above all a town of lace: since around the 15th century its women have practised merletto a tombolo, the intricate craft of bobbin lace made on a cushion using dozens of threads and wooden bobbins, and the tradition remains genuinely alive, with lacemakers still working at their cushions in shop doorways and a dedicated Museo del Merletto a Tombolo, housed in the Palazzo De Castellotti-Pagnanelli, displaying historic and contemporary pieces. The combined museum ticket, around €3.50 for adults, gives access to the town's small museum cluster. Within the Palazzo Comunale lies a further surprise: the Teatro del Serpente Aureo, a perfectly proportioned little Baroque theatre rebuilt in 1820, with three tiers of boxes and a painted ceiling, named for the golden serpent of local legend depicted on its curtain. On the edge of town stands the striking Romanesque-Gothic church of Santa Maria della Rocca, set on a spur with sweeping views. Offida is also known for its lively Carnival and for the wines of the surrounding Offida DOCG zone, including Pecorino and Passerina whites and Rosso Piceno reds. The town is best explored slowly on foot, watching for lace at work and pausing in the triangular square; it makes an easy and rewarding excursion from Ascoli Piceno, around twenty kilometres away.