LE MARCHE PROVINCE.
On the Adriatic and bordered inland by the by the pretty Appenines. Le Marche is one of Italy’s least known treasures.
Historically, they were dominated by the Romans for 700 years, then sacked by the Goths, Vandals, Ostrogoths and finally, the Lombards. Charlemagne finally ousted the Lombards and in 800, Pope Leo III crowned him Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. After he died, central Italy entered centuries of war, anarchy and the Dark Ages until the Guelphs won and the area became one of the Papal states. It stayed that way until Italian unification in 1861.
ANCONA (pop 103,000). A gritty port town and capital of the province, the old town is quite pretty. Just south is Parco del Conero with towering limestone cliffs rising out of the Adriatic to the to the 572m Monte Conero.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale delle Marche. This museum has wonderful artifacts dating from the Paleolithic period to the Middle Ages. Some of the treasures are Etruscan and Celtic gold and the Venus of Frasassi, a statuette of a pregnant woman, 8.7cm tall, carved from Stalactite 28,000 years ago.
Sadly, there is little English here and there was no one to complain to as not one of the 7 staff members I encountered understood one word.
URBINO (pop 15,500). The entire city centre was declared a Unesco site in 1996, and it is a beauty all in uniform brick and cobble. The Montefeltro family created an art scene in the 15th century, gathering all the great artists, architects and scholars of his day. Raphael was born here.
I arrived in the evening to this vibrant university town and walked up the steep main street, poked around and ate at Café Central, the main hangout for university students. The streets outside the bars were thronged – all drinking wine and no smoking.
Palazzo Ducale. A microcosm of Renaissance architecture, art and history, it contains the Galleria Nazionale dell Marche with works by Raphael, Titian and Signorelli. This is a huge palace with palatial rooms and fireplaces. Of the hundreds of paintings, half were of the Madonna and Bambino and a quarter were of Christ on the cross. I was most impressed with the wood inlays on all the doors and in Federico de Montefeltro’s dressing room.
Duoma di Urbino. It contains Federico Barocci’s Last Supper and Bologna’s Madonna Breastfeeding. For some reason it was closed on the day I was there.
Why Not Drive Regional Highways? Earlier I made several comments about traveling on the autostrada with expense the major problem. But regional roads, depending on population density and number of villages are worse, unless you have a lot of time. Local traffic, bicycles, pedestrians, traffic lights, speed limits and big trucks can make this very slow! Want to drive along the ocean in front of all the resorts and hotels for those great views of beaches? These roads are very discontinuous and often don’t cross rivers or go around rocky headlands, making backtracking endless. So most regional roads are inland going through the centre of towns with poor views of anything except the back of the car in front of you. Often the autostradas built high above the towns give the best views especially of the ocean. Also gas consumption is greatly increased with all the stop-and-go traffic. It was awful traveling to Ancona and probably took 4 times the time with no views or advantages.
If you want an exercise in frustration, especially along the ocean, travel the regional roads. Tolerate the endless and expensive tolls and be happy.