Roman cisterns

The Roman cisterns of Fermo, also called purging pools,
represent an archaeological complex of 2,200 square meters, unique in the Marche.

The Sferisterio of Macerata

Open air theater located in the historic center of the city,
it is a semicircular arena originally intended for the game of the ball with the bracelet

The Ducal Palace of Urbino

It is one of the most interesting architectural and artistic examples
of the entire Italian Renaissance and is home to the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche.

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History – Art and Culture

Fermo

The sandy beaches of the nearby Adriatic coast contrast with the Sibillini mountains and in the middle the valleys dotted with villages. Fermo is the capital of this territory, located on the last foothills of the hilly buttress that separates the valleys of the Tenna and Ete Vivo. The city is arranged around a steep hill on which the Duomo is located in a dominant position.
This Marche city is rich in history, art and culture, it is among the most interesting and picturesque with its narrow and winding streets in the historic center, many of which still have the characteristic pavement where the ancient Roman and medieval layout mixes harmoniously with the sixteenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century architectural details. The alleys reveal glimpses of rare beauty, between fifteenth-century buildings and Renaissance buildings that alternate with exciting panoramic views that frame the city, the nearby mountains and the sea.

The heart of the city is Piazza del Popolo, dominated by the sixteenth-century Palazzo dei Priori residence of the governors and papal legates. The Palazzo dei Priori houses, on the second floor, the Civic Art Gallery which houses precious paintings from the Marche and Veneto schools. Among its treasures the fifteenth-century “polyptych of S. Lucia” by Jacobello del Fiore and “The nativity” by Rubens (1608). The museum itinerary also proposes the Mappamondo room, which takes its name from the eighteenth-century globe designed by the cartographer Amanzio Moroncelli di Fabriano and the permanent exhibition “Fermo: from the villanovians to the Piceni”, a large collection of pre-Roman finds from the lands of Fermo. Adjacent to the Palace is the loggia of San Rocco, part of a sixteenth-century convent complex, and next to it stands the Palazzo degli Studi, connected to that of the priors by a loggia above a vault..

One of the oldest and most fascinating Italian libraries is housed in the ancient Palazzo degli Studi, home to a university for a thousand years. Established in 1688, it is a general library in which, over time, bequests of illustrious people from Fermano, purchases of entire collections belonging to distinguished private individuals and, in the nineteenth century, a strong increase in assets derived from the suppressions of religious congregations. Overall, the bibliographic material in the library is approximately 300,000 volumes. The ancient background includes 127 parchment codices, 11 choirs, 3,000 manuscripts, 681 incunabula, 15,000 from the sixteenth century, 23,000 brochures in miscellany and 816 discontinued historical periodicals.

Do not miss a visit to the Roman Cisterns, a vast underground complex made up of thirty communicating rooms dating back to 40 AD. to collect and purify the rain and spring water that fed the city aqueduct. Near the Cisterns there is the thirteenth-century church of San Domenico with a semicircular apse and the bell tower with pointed lancet windows, a church that houses a beautiful wooden choir from the mid-fifteenth century.

Piazzale del Girfalco offers breathtaking views over the whole region, and is considered the seat of the spiritual soul of the city, where the thirteenth-century fortress stood. The Girfalco square can be reached along the straight Via Mazzini which connects it to Piazza del Popolo. Via Mazzini overlooks the beautiful Teatro dell’Aquila, the city’s historical theater, inaugurated at the end of the eighteenth century, with a large hall with one hundred and twenty four stages on five orders for a total capacity of a thousand seats. . Do not miss a visit to the Diocesan Museum, where the precious chasuble of St. Thomas of Canterbury is kept, embroidered in gold and silk.

Torre di Palme is a fraction of the municipality of Fermo, overlooking the sea. The medieval village located in a dominant position on the coast, is worth a visit just to enjoy its enchanting views of the Adriatic. It also features characteristic buildings and several churches that indicate not only the ancient relationship with the sea, but also with the dominant city. Among these, the medieval Church of S. Maria a Mare stands out with frescoes that testify to ancient devotions, the Church of S. Agostino with a Polyptych by Vittore Crivelli filled with saints and with its golden background reminiscent of paradise and the ancient Church of S. Giovanni with its beautiful portal. Walking through the alleys, you can breathe an authentic atmosphere surrounded by man-made buildings in harmony with what nature itself has created.

Moresco, a real castle dating back to the year 1000, which stands on the top of a hill overlooking the Valdaso. Perfectly preserved small village that since 2002 has become part of the Club of the most beautiful villages in Italy with its picturesque buildings and the mighty walls that surround it. But the main feature of this country is its high heptagonal tower, which makes it deserve the name of a village with seven horizons. There are many hypotheses as to why this tower has seven sides, and one of the most convincing theories concerns precisely the top of this heptagon which seems to point towards Monte Sibilla, a place full of magic and mystery.

The charm of this place lies in the fact that its appearance seems to have stopped over time, the castle has in fact remained almost as in the Middle Ages.

Monterubbiano, the name of the village is perhaps linked to the madder trade, a valuable dyeing plant and used since ancient times which, not surprisingly, also appears on the city coat of arms. Two characters lived in the country and have left their mark, albeit in completely different areas. The first is Vincenzo Pagani, a painter who descends from a dynasty of artists, a follower of Venetian painting. The other character is Temistocle Calzecchi Onesti, inventor of the coherer (the cohesor), an electromagnetic wave detector that will prove to be fundamental for the future development of the radio.

The center of the city is dotted with numerous churches with interesting medieval carved symbols that recall the importance of this country.
In the Church of S. Francesco, located in the highest part of the city, there is the museum complex which is interesting above all for the collection of Picene finds found in the area. A historical re-enactment that has its center in Monterubbiano is dedicated to this ancient civilization, which lived its heyday about 2500 years ago. This is the tradition of the Army of Pentecost, better known as Sciò la Pica, and recalls the movement of the ancient Piceni from Lazio to the Marche, according to the ritual of the sac sacrum (sacred spring). The migration of this people would have been guided by a woodpecker, as still recalled by the re-enactment during which four guilds parade with their characteristic clothes, with the peaks kept in their respective cages and holding cherry branches in their hands to the propitiatory cry of ” I ski the Pica! “

There are still many traditions, legends and characteristic views that can be enjoyed in these villages, together with the characteristic fried noodles typical of Monterubbiano.

Countries that retain their beauty because they have remained intact and unspoiled and represent a part of the world where time passes slowly and sweetly.

Falerone, village rich in history, culture and artistic beauty. Of Picene origins, Falerio Picenus was probably established as a Roman colony around 29 BC. Numerous archaeological evidence from the relative period (theater, amphitheater, cisterns and exhibits exhibited in the local museum). The medieval evidence (the rural churches of San Paolino and Santa Margherita of the thirteenth century, the Loggia dei Mercanti of the fifteenth century, the Church of San Fortunato) are also significant and relevant. Important the patron fair (San Fortunato di Todi), in the first days of June, and the celebrations related to the ‘Nzegna (in dialect, “sign”, “flag”) of the first weeks of August.

Loreto and the Holy House, Loreto owes its fame to the Sanctuary which has been for centuries and is still today one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Catholic world. The city, surrounded by a city wall erected as early as the 14th century as a defense, especially from Turkish incursions, developed around the well-known Basilica which houses the famous relic of the Holy House of Nazareth where, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary was born and lived and where he received the announcement of the miraculous birth of Jesus.

For information: prolocoloreto.com

Ascoli Piceno city of travertine, the historic center of Ascoli Piceno is built almost entirely of travertine and is among the most admired in the region and central Italy, by virtue of its artistic and architectural wealth. It preserves several noble and bell towers and for this reason it is called the City of a hundred towers.

From the Riviera delle Palme to the National Parks of the Apennines.

For information: turismo.marche.it

Macerata and the Sferisterio, capital of the homonymous province of the Marche, the municipality of Macerata adheres to the Association of Cities of Art and Culture. It boasts a University, among the oldest in the world, founded in 1290.Abbadia di Fiastra and surroundings.

 For information: turismo.marche.it

Fabriano city of paper, Fabriano is known for the production of paper and for the watermarking of the sheets, an invention introduced by the Fabrianese master paper makers in the second half of the thirteenth century. In addition to Bologna, it is the only Italian city belonging to the UNESCO Creative Cities; in 2013 it was included in the Craft and Popular Arts category, a title recognized above all thanks to the production of handmade paper.

For information: fabrianoturismo.it

Cultural itineraries:

Discovering the Marches and their culture is a fascinating and engaging experience: the culture of the Marches is a mix of history, art and traditions that are offered to the traveler. Here are the most popular cultural itineraries:

Unesco city in the Marche
Parks and archaeological areas
Marche archaeological – The best of
The architecture of Francesco of Giorgio Martini
Carlo Crivelli
Lorenzo Lotto
The Marche and the Renaissance
Camerino, capital of the Da Varano Lordship
Grand Tour Leopardiano

The 27 most beautiful boroughs in Italy:

Cingoli, The historical center, the monuments and the museums of the Municipality are partially usable;
Corinaldo is a village located in the hinterland of Senigallia and stands at the top of a hill on the left bank of the Nevol rivera;
Esanatoglia, Esus, the Celtic god of war, would be at the origin of the toponym Esanatoglia; on the banks of the river Esino the first settlement is presumed to have arisen in Roman times;
Frontino (The most beautiful village in Italy and the Orange Flag Municipality) is by population the smallest municipality in the Province of Pesaro and Urbino and in the Montefeltro Mountain Community;
Gradara it is known above all for its beautiful fortress. The history of Gradara is closely linked to the vicissitudes of its castle, subject over the centuries to the domination of the Malatesta, Sforza and Della Rover families;
Grottammare, the pearl of the Adriatic, is a tourist resort on the Riviera delle Palme celebrated for more than three centuries for the beauty of the landscape, for the evocative atmospheres of peace and serenity.
Macerata Feltria, the Roman Pitinum Pisaurense, is located in a verdant basin, on the border between Marche, Romagna and Tuscany, in the heart of Montefeltro and shows a very suggestive landscape;
Mercatello sul Metauro it is a charming center of the Upper Metauro, on which the Orange Flag flies. The village, which was among the most important castles in the ancient region of Massa Trabaria, has retained part of the medieval aspect in the historical core, characterized by a walled enclosure protected by the furrow of the two rivers, the Metauro and the torrent S Antonio;
Mondavio, Set on a hill at 280 meters. above sea level, between the valleys of the Metauro and Cesano rivers, with views that unfold between the Adriatic and the Apennines.
Mondolfo, the historic hill borough of Mondolfo, which is one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, with its continuation in the coastal town of Marotta, represents a typical example of “two cities in one”, a sign of the fusion of two cultures, of the land and of the sea;
Monte Grimano Terme, formerly called Mons Germanus, it is located on a spur overlooking the Conca valley and, thanks to its 600 m a.s.l., it offers pure air, a sweet and temperate climate and the atmosphere of the hill landscapes. Monte Grimano Terme has become part of the club The most beautiful villages in Italy, which aims to safeguard, preserve and revitalize small Italian towns;
Montecassiano, in the heart of the Marche region, in the middle of the expanse of Maceratese hills, Montecassiano is a village with a medieval imprint, enclosed by high walls, and dominates the valley of the Potenza river, about 8 km from Macerata;
Montecosaro, between Civitanova and Macerata, Montecosaro stands on a hill overlooking the valley of the Chienti river. The discovery of Etruscan and Roman archaeological finds confirms the antiquity of the population of the municipal area;
Montefiore dell’Aso,(Most beautiful village in Italy), it is a delightful town in the Piceno area, located on a hill between the valleys of the Aso river and the Menocchia stream. The historic center is well preserved: there are significant sections of the city wall with doors and six towers dating back to the XV and XVI centuries;
Montelupone is a hilltop borough which is 13 km from Macerata. It is among the most beautiful villages in Italy and boasts the Orange Flag. It preserves the castle walls, the four entrance doors and the original stone flooring;
Moresco, Moresco Castle is part of the association The most beautiful villages in Italy. It rises on the top of a hill controlling the underlying Aso valley; in the Middle Ages it was a stronghold of the Municipality of Fermo in the war against Ascoli;
Offagna, close to Ancona and Monte Conero, Offagna, a typical medieval village, is dominated by its fortress, which stands out as a solitary lookout on the surrounding hilly landscape. the borough, on which the Orange Flag is waving, is part of the association The most beautiful villages in Italy;
Offida, ancient borough enclosed by the castle walls of the fifteenth century, it is included among the most beautiful villages in Italy. Located on a rocky outcrop, between the valleys of the Tesino and Tronto, it is known for the laborious and patient art of delicate bobbin lace, an ancient tradition, to which a museum is dedicated;
Pergola it is located along the high valley of the Cesano river on a large terrace at the confluence with the Cinisco. It is 49.7 km from Fano. The famous Gilded Bronzes from Cartoceto di Pergola from the Julio-Claudian age, found in 1946, bear witness to the ancient glorious past of Pergola;
San Ginesio, the historical center, the monuments and the museums of the Municipality are partially usable. Close to the Sibillini Mountains, the village of San Ginesio, on which the Orange Flag is waving, has a medieval urban layout enclosed by a large circle of mighty walls that still preserve patrol walkways, loopholes and towers;
Sarnano, on which the Orange Flag flies, it is located in the center of an enchanting valley at the foot of the Sibillini mountains. It is among the most beautiful villages in Italy. Its historical events are linked to San Francesco and his followers, legend has it that the Seraphim depicted in the municipal coat of arms was drawn by the saint himself;
Sassoferrato it rises on the eastern side of the Apennines; the inhabited center is placed on two levels, the Borgo district at about 310 m a.s.l. and the Castello district at about 400 m above sea level dominated by the remains of the Rocca, a massive military building dating back to the 14th century, built by order of Cardinal Albornoznel 1365;
Servigliano, the historical center, the monuments and the museums of the Municipality are partially usable. It is a small town in the province of Fermo and is one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. Its name (which recalls a Servilius or the gens Servilia) derives from a Roman settlement that stood 4 kilometers away in a higher position than the current location;
Torre di Palme – Fermo, the suggestive center of Torre di Palme is a fantastic panoramic balcony on the top of a hill overlooking the coast and the Adriatic sea. The village belongs to the circle of the Fermo castles divided, according to their location, into marine, middle and mountain ones: the marine ones rise on the top of the hills and generally have an ellipsoidal urban layout (with east-west axis) surrounded by walls that they open with “da Sole” or “da Bora” doors;
Treia, the historical center, the monuments and the museums of the Municipality are partially usable. Founded by the Romans, it is a municipality located north of the Potenza river valley. The etymology of the name derives from that of the goddess Trea-Jana, a divinity of Greek origin, who was venerated here;
Vallefoglia – Montefabbri, mentioned in documents dating back to the early thirteenth century, Colbordolo was soon fortified and equipped with a castle. Strategically located on the border between Romagna and Marche, it was besieged and devastated by Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (1446), later becoming part of the Duchy of Urbino;
Visso, the historical center, the monuments and the museums of the Municipality are partially usable. In the heart of the Monti Sibillini National Park, of which it houses the headquarters, Visso, on which the Orange Flag is waving, is an enchanting mountain center that boasts a past rich in history: the historic center amazes for the succession of imposing walls, towers, medieval houses and balconies, Renaissance noble palaces, stone portals carved with family crests and Latin mottoes.