Church of the Holy Virgin of the Rosary
The village of Mercatale was once part of the Parish of Pierle but, as it was located in the territory of Perugia, it subsequently joined the Diocese (no dates are available). Of course, it did not have its own parish church, just a couple of chapels where the Mass was celebrated by the parish priest of St. Mary of the Cohorts and this situation went on for quite a while. In 1914 the parish priest of St. Michael the Archangel of Reschio, don Celestino Mencarini, came up and partly implemented the project of building a church in Mercatale, his own birthplace, and so its foundations were laid in the same year. Bu then the works considerably slowed down during World War I. In 1919, Mencarini changed his mind: He abandoned the project of the church, whose roof had just been built, and considering that there were many churches but just a few priests, he left a donation to perpetually support two seminarians in Perugia and two in Cortona. The building then was temporarily used as a storeroom and for other purposes. In January 1921, don Celestino passed away and left don Alfonso Marchesini, priest of S. Donnino in Santa Maria della Croce, as his universal heir; the latter maintained his commitment of supporting the four seminarians until War World II, when the value of the donation evaporated. Mercatale residents though did not give up their wish to have their own church and created a local committee to collect offerings, so that its construction was terminated in 1927. In 1933 the parish priest of St. Mary of the Courts left his parish due to advanced age and retired, always remaining in Mercatale. The Parish was left without a priest for two years, so the Mass was celebrated by the priests of Lisciano and Reschio. Therefore, the residents of Mercatale requested the Archbishop of Perugia to appoint a priest of their own, making also clear their wish to be included in the former Diocese of Cortona. The Archbishop of Perugia met their desire and on December 24th 1935 Giuseppe Franciolini, Bishop of Cortona, took possess of the new parish and appointed the priests of S. Donnino and Pierle as its new ministers.” Text from the manuscript written by Marchesini don Alfonso.