Montegranaro is one of the largest towns in the Province of Fermo located between the rivers Chienti to the north and Ete Morto to the south. In documents Montegranaro appears for the first time in the 9th century, in the Choricon Farfense. A free commune in the 12th century, in 1387 it became a fief of the Venetian Zeno family. In 1443, after the sacking of Piccinino, it passed under the rule of the Sforza family and then under the Papal State until the Unification of Italy. Montegranaro was born with a shoemaking vocation since the end of the 18th century.
Montegranaro is a major shoemaking center. Most of the local craftsmanship is based precisely on the production of shoes and accessories by medium and large enterprises. Through continuous research in technology and style, today Montegranaro, ranks among the world’s major centers of high quality footwear production. Some of the most significant monuments of religious architecture include: the Church of St. Hugh, mistakenly referred to as a “crypt” or “cryptoporticus,” actually a Romanesque construction dating from around 800 AD.; the Church of St. Seraphim of Montegranaro, named after the saint of the same name (Montegranaro 1540-1604), later, however, buried in the church of the Capuchins in Ascoli Piceno, where he died; the Church of St. Francis, which has a remarkable travertine portal with rich friezes, turned columns and the coat of arms of Sixtus V at the apex of the arch; the Church of SS. Filippo and Giacomo, founded by Farfa, which houses a canvas, attributed to the school of Barocci, depicting the Circumcision of Our Lord.
Also of great interest are the noble palaces Conventati, Ranier – Luciani and Cruciani. Also notable is the Torrione, an ancient fortified mill datable to before the year 1000, built on the plain of the Chienti River in the district of the same name. Raw earth houses, evidence of ancient peasant civilization, are widespread and still well preserved in the municipal area.