Offida  Offida is a "comune" (municipality) in the Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Italian region Marche, located about south of Ancona and about northeast of Ascoli Piceno, on a rocky spur between the valleys of the Tesino (from north) and Tronto (south) rivers. The origins of Offida are debated. In its territory have been found tombs of the Piceni (7th-5th century BC) and Roman remains; however, the town is known only from 578 AD when the population, fleeing the Lombard invasion, founded several castles in the area, included that of Offida. The true first historical mention dates to 1039, when the Abbey of Farfa received the castle of "Ophida", being confirmed in 1261 by Pope Urban IV. During the war between the communes of Ascoli and Fermo, Offida sided for the latter. In the early 16th century Offida signed a truce with Ascoli while, in the same period, all the lands of the Farfa Abbey went to the Papal States. From the late 19th century the economy, from a wholly agricultural one, started to rely on handicraft also. The church of Santa Maria della Rocca is considered one of the main architectural features of the whole Marche region. It is located on the westernmost tip of the town, surrounded on three sides by ravines that enhance its size. It is a large brickwork construction in Romanesque-Gothic style, designed by a master Albertino in 1330 on a pre-existing Benedictine church. The façade, looking towards the countryside, has fake columns; on the town's sides are three tall polygonal apses with fake columns in white stone, mullioned windows and Gothic Lombard bands. In the central apse is a Gothic portal leading to the crypt (with a nave and four aisles - originally only two aisles) which has the same surface of the upper church and is decorated by frescoes attributed to the Master of Offida. The upper church, with a single hall, has Giottoesque frescoes, some attributed to the Master of Offida (one is dated 1367 and others to Giacomo da Campli (16th century). Some of the original decorations are much ruined or lost at all. Among the side altars, the St. Andrew one has a canvas by Vincenzo Pagani.