Locations: Le Marche

Le Marche lie between the Tiber valley and the Adriatic coast, and the northwestern part of the state, which is most accessible for day trips from Bastia Creti, is arguably also the most beautiful and the most interesting. One must first cross the Appenines, a harsh and lovely landscape which has largely resisted any sort of cultivation and has only a scattering small towns and villages. To the east though, between the mountains and the coastal area, the country is more hospitable and there are a number of ancient cities.

Le Marche, like the other states of central Italy, suffered from the conflict between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire. Brief periods of relative calm were followed by upheaval as the fortunes of the rival factions, local tyrants and foreign invaders waxed and waned, and it was not until the height of the Renaissance that there was anything approaching stability in the region.

During the latter half of the 15th century Urbino became one of the most important cities in Le Marche, indeed in all of Italy, and it was here that Duke Federico da Montefeltro, the great warrior and archetypal Renaissance man, built his splendid Palazzo Ducale. Having made his fortune as one of the leading mercenary generals or condottieri of his day, he presided over one of the most illustrious courts in Europe, entertaining the finest painters, scholars and poets of his day. Although there had been Roman city on the site, few traces of it remain and almost all of the building inside the city wall were constructed during Federico's rule and the following decades. The Palazzo Ducale is now home to the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche (which has many wonderful paintings including works by Piero della Francesca, Botticelli, and Raphael, who was born in Urbino) and the Museo Archeologico, and other parts of the building, including the cellars, are also open to the public.

Cagli, a smaller town to the south of Urbino, retains more evidence of its Roman past. Here the streets still follow the original Roman grid and lead to a spacious piazza with a fountain. There are a number of interesting buildings, including an oval tower which is all that remains of a fortress built by Federico da Montefeltro.

Urbania also has connections with with the dukes of Urbino, being the site of another Palazzo Ducale - this time a rather grim feudal fortress which was renovated during Federico's time - and the burial place of the last Duke of Urbino, who relinquished his lands to the Papal states in 1631. It also has a pretty piazza and lovely cloistered streets.