Offida an historical outline - According to the historian Allevi (1834 - 1896), a remarkable figure in the history of the town and author of several archaeological works, Offida was founded in the local stone age, a theroy also supported by several archaelogical finds in the local area which testify how the Picena civilization developed between the 9th and 3rd centuries B.C. According to the Greek and Latin Historic sources, the Picena population originated from a group of Sabine youths who, following the tradition of the " Ver Sacrum " (a propitiatory rite usually practised by some Italian population to gain the gods' favour), had come to this territory led by a woodpecker (PICVS), from which the Picena population and territory derived their name. By the end of the 13th century, Offida had already become a town. In 1261 Pope Urban IV issued a bull establishing a Head With judiciary tasks and in 1291, Pope Nocolas iv gave the power of electing podestà as well as consuls and that ever-increasing rivalry between Guelfs and Ghibellines and that between the towns of Ascoli and Fermo which lasted up to the 16th century. In 1860 a revolutionary committee took part in the fights against the papal army which was defeated in Castelfidardo leaving the local government to the winners. Consequently, Offida was included in the Province of Ascoli. From this moment on, Offida began to experience the transition from a fundamentally agricultural economy to handicraft, more and more tied to mechnization and industrialization. The various activities aimed at promoting the local territory have gained a tourist flow which makes Offida the town with the highest number of visitors in the region; thanks to the improvement of facilities, the historical, artistic and cultural inheritance have developed being today among the richest and most interesting in the whole region.