The Temple of Saint Emidio at the Grottoes, in the province of Ascoli Piceno, is a baroque structure from the early 18th century, named after the city’s patron saint – who was its bishop and was martyred during Diocletian’s anti-Christian persecutions.

Emidio was born in Treviri in 273 and lived until the early 4th century; today, the people of Ascoli Piceno consider him their protector against earthquakes. Tradition has it that after being decapitated, he picked up his head and walked to the nearby grottoes, which today are inside this small church designed by Giuseppe Giosafatti. There he died and was buried until, some 700 years later, his mortal remains were transferred to the Ascoli Cathedral.