Tifernum Mataurense

Sant'Angelo in Vado

Tifernum Mataurense rose on a large river terrace on the right bank of the Metauro, at 360 meters above sea level, at the point where it receives water from the torrent Mòrsina, in an area naturally protected on two sides, extending about 14 hectares. Sporadic archaeological testimonies tell us of the ancient frequentation of the area of San Angelo di Vado, referable to the protohistoric age. In fact, the remains of huts dating back to the Iron Age found in the southern part of the city confirm the presence of a protohistoric inhabitancy. Through the discovery of opus signinum floors, coins and ceramics of the mid and late Republican Age, it is possible to hypothesize the birth of a Roman settlement before the founding of the municipium that took place in the 1st century BC. The city of Tifernum Mataurense, to which appertained a vast and mostly hilly and mountainous territory, flourished between the the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. It was in the 3rd century AD that a slow and long period of decadence set in. An episcopal see since the second half of the 5th century AD, the city was destroyed by the Goths in the middle of the 6th century. The Lombards reconstructed the new inhabited area on the ruins of the Roman city, now no longer visible, dedicating it to the Archangel Michael: the city then took the name of Sant'Angelo in Vado.