IL BACOLINO

MARCHES

NORTH - Five thousands years ago, the northern part, where Cesane Mountains and Metauro Valley are, was a very large forest. Today the area offers a rich and charming natural landscape, where the city of Urbino is sited.

-Urbino is dominated by the extraordinary Palazzo Ducale, which today is the Marches National Gallery seat. Monuments and attractions to see: Albani Diocesan Museum, for its ceramics, glasses and religious handcrafts and the Sixteenth Century Federico Barocci painting "Ultima Cena";
Saint Domenico church, with Luca Della Robbia works.
The Duomo of Urbino is sited among many medieval narrow streets and it was realized by Laurana. It was later rebuilt by Valadier in 1784, after an earthquake.
Not far from this enchanting town there are other towns full of medieval features, such as Fermignano, Acqualagna and Apecchio, with its fossiles museum and the oldest globe in the world.
It is of extraordinary interest the Natural Park of Gola del Furlo. Going south and through the center of the Marches, another amazing natural park can be discovered:

-The Regional Natural Park of Frasassi. It is more than 9000 ha large and in its Gola della Rossa are many spectacular limestone cavities which created the famous Frasassi Caves (Grotte di Frasassi). These caves, discovered in 1971 and opened in 1974, are now-a-day visited by many people. A guided tour there lasts about 70 minutes. Not far from the caves, plunged in this green area, there is San Vittore town, with its Byzantine San Vittore delle Chiuse church and the small but very well equipped San Vittore spa.
Not far from there you can get Fabriano.

-Fabriano, famouse for its paper production, has a great Paper and Filigree Museum, which is another important attraction together with Palazzo del Podestà.

-Pesaro, Gioacchino Rossini birthplace. The city has several music-artistic traditions and features: Rossini Theater, Rossini Museum, Music Conservatory, Art Institute, etc... In Pesaro there are yearly a Cinema Festival and a Rossini Music Festival. Visit Palazzo Ducale and Villa Imperiale. Near Pesaro is the town of Gradara, which is famous for its gorgeous rock, dominated by its rooked Castle.

-Arcevia, a small town in the Ancona district with a nice paths along its 9 typical medieval castles.

SOUTH - The southern part of the Marches offers a great park: Mount Sibillini Park. These mountains are like a chain which represents the natural border between Umbria and the Marches. The mountains occupy about 70.000 ha of surface.
Main mountain is Mount Vettore (2476 mt), with Pilatus Lake sited among its walls. This pure water lake is the set of an old legend which tells that it is infested by Pontium Pilatus' ghost, as a unique shellfish. Wild nature and mystery are typical elements of the Sibillini Mountains.
Many are the small churches and the abandoned herms among these mountains. Valley towns, such as Castelsant'Angelo, Visso, Ussita and Frontignano are winter touristic places for skiing and on summer they are perfect places for promenades and excursions.

-Senigallia, founded in the Fourth Century B.C. was an important Urbino Duchess harbour. This city downtown is surrounded by extraordinary walls and its magnificent Rook: square shaped and with four square bastions.

-Macerata, very close to Umbria, near the Sibillini Mountains Park, offers extraordinary architectonical elements, such as S.Maria della Porta Church, Loggia dei Mercanti and Palazzo Maggiore.

-Parco del Conero, on the Adriatic coast, few kms far from Ancona, it takes its name from Mount Conero, a high promontory (572 mt), which breaks the typical spread out sand coasts environment of the Adriatic Sea.

-Acquasanta spa. They are near the southern border of the Marches, few km far from Porto San Giorgio and they come out from sulfurous sources, surrounded by a natural landscape full of excursion paths, among the Maltese Wood, Campotosto Lake and Scandarello Lake.