Marche not to miss out on
There is an extensive selection from which to choose: from the Riviera to the Sibillini Mountains, from the artistic cities to the characteristic inland villages.
Portrait of Giacomo Leopardi.
The Sferisterio Arena of Macerata... a show under the stars.
The Caves of Frasassi... an underworld.
LEOPARDI AND RECANATI
Recanati standing on top of a hill near the Conero Riviera was the birth place of the famous poet, Giacomo Leopardi and home to a large part of his poetic literary works.
It is now possible to visit the places that belonged to Leopardi, such as his Palace and its adjoining library, which contains more than 12,000 volumes. But, there is also the hill of "L'infinito", the infinite hill, where for some reason our curiosity excludes the remains of the ancient tower of Sant'Agostino, which inspired "Il passero solitario", the lonely sparrow, and the location of "il sabato del villaggio", the town's Saturday.
MACERATA
The Sferisterio opera house of Macerata provides a wonderful setting for a prestigious opera season under the stars during the summer months.
THE CAVES OF FRASASSI
The Caves of Frasassi, about 60 km from Ancona, represent a fascinating underground destination. An upside down world made up of a beautiful environment of extraordinary concretions. Here, silence is only ever so often broken by the dripping of water, which brings the entire experience to life and determines its constant evolution.
URBINO
Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, Urbino is one of the capitals of the Italian Renaissance. Every corner of this city has something to recount about its past or of the refined culture that took shape within its setting.
Certainly, the monument that best represents Urbino and whose structure can be seen from afar is the Ducale Palace and the adjoining National Gallery of Marche.
ASCOLI PICENO
This is also a city of fascinating beauty. No one could have better summed up the essence of Ascoli Piceno than Jean Paul Sartre with his delightful definition: Walking through the streets of the old town of Ascoli is like leafing randomly through the pages of a volume on the history of art and having the chance to see the most representative and expressive illustrations of the various periods of Italian art.
THE SIBILLINI
It is impossible not to mention the Sibillini mountain chain amongst the wonders of the Marche region: Monti azzurri, the blue mountains, as sung by Leopardi, offer natural sceneries of sheer beauty and provide the perfect background to the urban centres: little pearls of art and culture.
