The church stands in one of the oldest and smallest neighborhoods of Teramo, which is named after the church. The neighborhood was built under the Lombards (ca. 6th century). When it was rebuilt after the fire of 1156, it used to host the poor.
This might explain the lack of churches, monuments and noble palaces in the neighborhood.
The church was already mentioned in 1290 as Sancta Maria ad Bitectum
According to the sources, it was almost entirely destroyed by the fire and just the outside walls were spared.
It was later rebuilt in the late 14th century, so today the church has the typical features of that period. The lower part of the facade is made of clay-bricks, on both sides you can see the numerous stabilization works in stone, made over the centuries. Dating back to the Late Romanesque period are the two stone portals. They are very refined and decorated similarly to other churches of Teramo like the Cathedral, San Antonio and San Giovanni. They have a stone cornice and a lunette, which displayed a fresco that has been lost with time. Inside the church, there is a nave with a gable roof and wall ornaments that didn’t stand the test of time.
In 1868 the city board chose to provide Teramo with an art collection and very soon the people involved started looking for a building to host this new museum. The very first choice went to the former church of Santa Maria a Bitetto. Conceived as a warehouse and not as an actual museum as time went on the artworks were stored in the nearby rooms as the space inside the church was not enough.
After the more recent restauration works, new frescos where discovered, dating back to the 12th or 14th century. They have yet to be carefully studied.
Traduzione: classe 3ALL del Liceo linguistico statale Giannina Milli
