From the Riviera of hills to Urbino and the inland areas

In Urbania, there was a fortified complex (fortress-residence) built by the Brancaleone family and located along the Metano River. After throwing away the Brancaleone family, Federico da Montefeltro undertook restoration work of the entire building, changing it into a Ducal Palace by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Later, the building was restored many times by Gerolamo Genga and it was the favourite seat of the last Duke of Urbino Francesco Maria II Della Rovere. Nowadays, the two rooms and the hall host the art and book collection of the Municipal Library and the Civic Art Gallery and Museum, the Municipal Archive and the history of agriculture and craft Museum.  

Urbino is situated between the valleys of the Metauro and Foglia rivers. Its historic centre now boasts the honour of being included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. It is  birthplace of two great artists, Bramante and Raphael, and it is home to one of the oldest and most important universities in Europe, founded in 1506. For the second half of the 15th century its windy hill was the setting for one of the most illustrious courts in Europe. Duke Federico da Montefeltro gathered around him the greatest painters, poets and scholars of his day and housed them in one of Italy's most beautiful Renaissance palaces, a palace that still stands as an eloquent memorial to this quintessential Renaissance man.
The Palazzo Ducale is a splendid late XV century residence, one of Italy's most beautiful Renaissance palaces, defined as "a city in the form of a palace", by humanist Baldesar. It was built by Luciano Laurana (1464-1472), who designed and carried out the main part of the building, like the Torricini façade, the Cortile D'Onore and the monumental series of steps. Francesco di Giorgio Martini, who built the most important fortresses in the Montefeltro area, finished the works started by Laurana. None of the rooms of the palace were designed to oppress with grandeur but were built on a human scale and decorated with glad-hearted sobriety. Nowadays they house the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche - a remarkable collection of paintings including one of the world's greatest and most enigmatic images, Piero della Francesca's Flagellation of Christ. Other great pictures here are Piero's Madonna di Senigallia , Raphael's La Muta, the Silent One, an anonymous portrait of a gentlewoman who we feel might talk to us if she only wished to, and a famous vision of the Ideal City by an unknown hand and much used by art designers to illustrate books on the Renaissance. The Duke's Studiolo is the most unusual room in the palace. His tiny study is entirely decorated in exquisite trompe l'oeil inlaid woodwork panels, some based on designs by Botticelli.
Urbino is the birthplace of Raphael, one of the most remarkable Renaissance artists. The house where he was born is now a delightful little museum. Further tourist attractions are: Oratorio S. Giovanni Battista entirely decorated in 1416 with wall-to-ceiling frescoes by the Marchegiani painters Jacopo and Lorenzo Salimbeni; Presepio or nativity scene of the Oratory of San Giuseppe by Federico Brandani; the elegant Cathedral with the nearby Albani Diocesan Museum; the Sanzio Theatre, built in the 19th century;  the rarely visited but nevertheless delightful Orto Botanico. You can't miss: the Collegio Raffaello, founded  by Pope Clement XI in the early eighteenth century, housing the town council hall, some offices of the Prefecture and the Cabinet Museum of Physics; the Albornoz Fortress, built in the second half of the fourteenth century by Cardinal Egidio Alvares de Albornoz. As you leave Urbino you can’t miss the tombs of Duke Federico and his son, Guidobaldo, in the fine church of San Bernardino. It was built in 1491 by Francesco di Giorgio Martini and stands on the hill above the junction for the Pesaro road.
The famous local specialty is "Casciotta of Urbino", one of the region's handful of officially protected DOP regional food; is a delicate pale cheese made from both ewe and cow's milk  across Pesaro and Urbino province. Crescia of Urbino is another popular specialty; it is a sort of focaccia (italian bread), filled with wiith sausage, wild herbs, ham or cheese. The most remarkable events  taking place in Urbino during the year are: Festival of Ancient Music (July), the Festival of the Duke (August) and the Kite Festival (September).

Gioachino Rossini (born in Pesaro on 29 February 1792; died in Passy on 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer. He was the most famous composer of operas in his time. His operas had lots of new ideas. The opera for which he is best known today is the Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville). Many of the overtures to his operas are played at orchestral concerts. The most popular is the overture to his opera Guillaume Tell (William Tell) with its famous galloping tune. During the last 40 years of his life Rossini wrote no more music. His friends begged him to write another opera but he always refused.

His birthplace was Pesaro, a small town in Italy on the Adriatic coast. His father played the horn in military bands and opera houses and his mother sang in operas. Rossini’s music is a link between the Classical and the Romantic periods. He was brought up hearing 18th century opera, and much of his best known music is still Classical in style, but he developed a lot as he matured and was writing in a more Romantic way by the end of his career.

In 2016 there's the start of the celebrations for the 150th bicentennial of Gioachino Rossini's death (2016/2018).
In 2018 there will be the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the death of Gioachino Rossini, the famous composer born in Pesaro in 1792 and died in Passy, Paris in 1868. Pesaro, City of Music, has been hosting the events and celebrations since the year 2016. The program will finish in 2019.

The cathedral is along Via Rossini. The first early Christian cathedral of Pesaro dated back to the 5th century and it was within the perimeter of the ancient Roman city. 

In 1503 the bell tower was destroyed by Cesare Borgia, so the presbytery and the apse were rebuilt and widened.

A further radical restructuring process was started in 1865 by the architect Giambattista Carducci, although the 13^th century Romanesque façade was left.

On that occasion a large mosaic (ca 900 sq. m.) was sensationally discovered. It covers the entire cathedral floor. But for the parts changed during the Middle Ages, it dates back to the 6^th century B. C. and it’s visible.

Thus, more than a metre below the surface, a basilica came to light, identified by critics as the early Christian cathedral. 

The 14^th century portal in white stone is flanked by two lions, dating back to the 12- 13^th centuries, probably a coat- of-arms of the Malatesta family. The church is in the shape of a Latin cross, with a nave, two aisles, seven altars and three chapels.

In the right aisle you can see the chapel of St. Terentius, where the relics of the patron- saints of Pesaro and a 14^th century fresco of the Madonna of the People can be found. The Chapel of the Very Holy Sacrament is in the left aisle and it houses marble sculptures of the old baptistery. The two chapels were re-made between the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Above the entrance a painting by Marco Benefial represents the Assumption among saints, whereas in the left transept a painting by Giovanni Giacomo Pandolfi represents the Crucifixion with Saints.

Pesaro is an attractive seaside resort in Northern Marche; it has 7 km of wide sandy beach. It is an ideal holiday destination for families; for a more secluded beach with green hills as a backdrop, Baia Flaminia just to the north of the centre is the best. There are a lot of accommodation facilities: some of them are open all around the year. A wide cycling path running for about 12 km is fully available. The city has always been connected with the sea: the Museum Washington Patrignani documents the tradition and the history of Pesaro’s Maritime Culture.
Must see attractions in the historic centre are: the Palazzo Ducale ,the Cathedral, the Musei Civici , the Pinacoteca and the modest house where Italy's great opera composer Gioacchino Rossini was born in 1792; the annual Rossini Opera Festival in August has earned a world-wide reputation. On the sea front there’s the Villino Ruggeri, one of the finest examples of the 20th century Italian Liberty style. Pesaro is in the area of the regional park of Monte San Bartolo; you can’t miss touring Casteldimezzo, Fiorenzuola di Focara e Santa Marina Alta, lovely villages overlooking the Adriatic Sea.

Tourist information
Tel. 0721 69341
Iat.pesaro@provincia.ps.it
www.turismopesaro.it
www.parcosanbartolo.it

The Natural Park of Monte San Bartolo covers an area of 1600 hectares of protected land; it was established in 1994; the towns included in the park are Pesaro and Gabicce Mare. It has very striking landscapes : the cliffs, narrow pebbled beaches and coves and large agricultural areas. The vegetation of Mount San Bartolo is varied: there are oaks, hornbeams and rare species such as the flax sea, the reed and the bright brooms. The park is also rich in bird life - the peregrine falcon, the honey buzzards, the seabirds, the cormorants , the heron, the mute swan live there, but other types of animals can be found : the deer, the fox, the badger, the porcupine and the weasel. Walking tours all around the protected area are fully available. Must see attractions are the ancient villages of Gabicce Monte, Casteldimezzo Fiorenzuola, Santa Marina Alta and the amazing Baia Vallugola. Cultural interesting sites are: Villa Imperiale, Villa Caprile and the archeological area near Colombarone, boasting a villa built in the III century AD.

Info
Paleontological Museum
‘’Lorenzo Sorbini’’
P.zza Dante Alighieri 1,
61010 Fiorenzuola di Focara, (PU)
Tel. 0721 268426

Villa Imperiale is one of the most interesting examples of Mannerist architecture in Italy. The foundation stone was laid in 1468 by the Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg while he was a guest of Alessandro Sforza in Pesaro; it took two centuries to complete the villa.

In 1521, after regaining the Duchy usurped by the Medici, Francesco Maria I Della Rovere commissioned the architect Gerolomo Genga to add another building, thereby transforming the whole into a holiday residence (1523-’38). The Della Rovere wing was conceived as a walled organism also enclosing the three gardens on the hill, where aromatic herbs typical of Classical and Renaissance cultures were grown. Genga was also responsible for coordinating the decoration of the interior, on which, among others, worked Dosso and Battista Dossi, Raffaellino del Colle, Bronzino and Francesco Menzocchi. The themes represented in the frescoes are nature, antiquity, love and the feats of Francesco Maria I.
In 1635, on the marriage of Ferdinando II, the last Della Rovere heir, to Vittoria, the villa became the property of the Medici and then passed to the House of Lorraine. It was sold to the Apostolic Chamber and granted in perpetual emphyteusis by Pius VI to the Albani family, who are the present owners.

Pesaro is an attractive seaside resort, a thriving fishing port and an important manufacturing centre; it is crossed by the Foglia river and is situated between two hills: Mount Ardizio and Mount San Bartolo (which gives its name to the Monte San Bartolo Natural Park).
Pesaro boasts seven kilometers of sandy beach; some of them are free and some equipped with beach resorts. There's a wide range of accommodation facilities, like hotels, holiday farms, B&B, camping resorts, apartments -  for a total amount of almost 11,000 lodgings. Pesaro welcomes visitors warmly; a special care is given to families and children. Since 2010 Pesaro has been hosting the Night festival of children, with music, plays, exhibitions, shows; further educational activities, including public readings on the beach, organized by Baia Flaminia Library, are dedicated to children. Due to the peculiar shape of the territory, characterized by a narrow and sandy coast to the south, and by the San Bartolo and Ardizio uplands to the opposite side,  you can find beach resorts close to the hotels and the town centre, and little bays. There are several biking trails: “Bicipolitana” is an itinerary for bikers, connecting several parts of the town. Trails are marked by specific signs and lines painted with different colors. The Pesaro-Fano biking trail runs south along the coast, up to Fosso Sejore.  The pedestrian and biking  “Umberto Cardinali” trail flanks the Foglia river and leads to the discovery of the local flora and fauna.
The most remarkable religious buildings are: the Cathedral, built on the remains of a late Roman building, which boasts an interesting mosaic floor; the Church of St. Agostino, with its remarkable Venetian Gothic portal ; the Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie, built in the thirteenth century by the Malatesta family and rebuilt in Baroque style. The most important monuments and museums are: the fifteenth-century squared Rocca Costanza, surrounded by a wide moat, formerly used as a prison; the Ducal Palace, now seat of the Prefecture, built by Alessandro Sforza in the second half of the fifteenth century; the Oliveriano Archaeological Museum and the Civic Museums (including the Art Gallery with Giovanni Bellini’s masterpiece, Coronation of the Virgin, and the Museum of Ceramics). The city was once noted for its ceramic workshops that turned out the brightly painted earthenware known as majolica. Here you can browse through one of Italy's finest collections of Renaissance and baroque pottery, much of it striking for its spontaneous, almost modern, use of colour and design. Rossini's House, the modest house where Italy's great opera composer Gioachino Rossini was born in 1792, is now a small shrine/museum dedicated to the composer. The annual Rossini Opera Festival in August has earned a world-wide reputation for performing works from his large repertoire of bel canto operas. Maritime history is well documented by the Washington Patrignani Museum. A striking contemporary sculpture is the "Palla di Pomodoro”, a bronze sphere realized in 1998 by sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro. Villino Ruggeri is one of the city's most flamboyant buildings: this heavily stuccoed confection is one of the finest examples of the Italian Liberty style that swept the Adriatic Riviera at the turn of the 20th century; not far from Pesaro, in the Colle San Bartolo area, is Villa Imperiale, a splendid Renaissance villa. In the Mount San Bartolo Park, must see attractions are Casteldimezzo, Fiorenzuola of Focara and Santa Marina Alta, picturesque villages overlooking Adriatic Sea. The most significant events taking place in Pesaro during the year include the already mentioned ROF (Rossini Opera Festival) , the International Festival of New Cinema, (Pesaro Film Festival), one of Italy's most important Summer Film festivals.

The Cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption, stands on Via Arco di Augusto. It was rebuilt in 1140 after a fire had destroyed the earlier building. Its brick and sandstone façade is typically Romanesque, with a richly decorated ribbed portal, where at the centre you can see a Gothic portal which was clearly influenced by Cosmatesque inlaid marble decorations that brighten the pillars and the ribs of the portal and that alternate the smooth little columns in white and pink marble. They strongly contrast with the strongly emphasized images of the divine lamb carved at the centre of the lintel.

The church bell tower to the left was built to replace the original cylindrical bell tower which was destroyed during the Second World War. In the interior, divided into a nave, two aisles and side chapels which were added from the 14^th century onwards, there are several noteworthy features. These include a pulpit made from sculptures from the earlier Church, with Romanesque reliefs representing episodes from Christ's childhood, and the seventeenth century Nolfi Chapel on which the architect Girolamo Rainaldi collaborated. This was frescoed with "The Story of the Virgin" by Domenico Zampieri (Domenichino) between 1618 and 1619. In the Chapel of the Patron Saints you can see paintings of "The Virgin with Saints Urses and Eusebius" by Ludovico Carracci while on the main altar is "The Virgin in Glory" by Sebastiano Ceccarini.

Fano is a seaside resort in northern Marche, boasting one of Italy’s most ancient Carnival.
The history of Fano dates back to 2,000 years : it was the largest roman settlement on the Adriatic Sea. It was both an important port and crossroad where the Via Flaminia from Rome met the main coastal route. The Arco di Augusto, a splendid Roman triumphal arch, built in 2 AD under the order of the Emperor Augusto, provides a fitting gateway to the town and is part of Augusto's ambitious project to smarten up the Empire's road network, marking the arrival of the Via Flaminia on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. The railway splits the old town from the modern resort that has grown up along two stretches of fine beach. To the southeast runs the Spiaggia Sassonia, a long strand of pebbled beach with a wide promenade. To the northwest runs the shorter Spiaggia Lido. Between the two beaches lies the fishing port. There’s also a well equipped marina, able to accommodate a large number of berths. “Brodetto alla fanese” is the most typical dish, based on local fish and fresh seafood; you can’t miss the local “Moretta”, a strong drink made with coffee, rum, anise and brandy.

Any visit to Roman Fano must inevitably start at the Arch of Augustus. Fano’s symbol from time immemorial, during the Roman period it was the main gate of the Colonia Julia Fanestris, built by the Emperor Augustus on the site of a settlement which had grown around the Republican Fanum Fortunae (a temple dedicated to the Goddess of Fortune).
The monument, built at the point where the Via Flaminia leads into the Decumanum Maximum (or main street) of the city, can be dated from the inscription on the frieze to the year 9 A.D.. Built on the outer side with square blocks of Istrian stone, the Gate comprises two smaller lateral barrel-vaulted arches and a larger central barrel-vaulted arch, the keystone of which is decorated with a zoomorphic decoration which is no longer recognisable today. The stones from the topmost section, which was reduced to rubble by the artillery of the Duke of Urbino Federico da Montefeltro in 1463, were used to build the adjacent church of San Michele. Continuing onwards, our route takes us to the Augustan Walls. Built on the orders of the Emperor Augustus in his grandiose project to monumentalise the city, it was finished in the year 9 A.D.. The walls still today preserve two thirds of the original circuit.

Guided visits to the roman buildings under the Church of Sant’Agostino are organized by Fano Archeoclub during the year.

In winter (from mid-September to mid-June) visits are organized on the second Saturday in the month (when the Antiques Fair is also held) at 5:30 p.m.  In Summer (from mid-June to mid-September) visits are possible on Wednesday and Friday evening at 9:30 p.m. (in August also on Thursday evening).

Reservation required : Fano Archeoclub mob. 339.8070687 – archeoclubfano@gmail.com.

Fano is a popular seaside resort in northern Marche, famous for its Carnival, that is claimed to be some of the oldest in Italy and featuring a cavalcade of massive floats that runs on three consecutive Sundays before Lent. 

The promenade is divided into Lido and Sassonia; the former beach is sandy, the latter is a long strand of pebbly beach, both with shallow water. Lido and Sassonia are suitable beaches for children, thanks to seaside amusements. The southern part features Torrette beach, Ponte Sasso and Metaurilia. Many campings are available along the National route between Fano and Marotta di Mondolfo. Along the promenade there is also the 12 Km biking path, from Fano to Pesaro. Fano boasts an important fishing port; sailing lovers may rely on the efficient Marina dei Cesari , a modern marina perfect for mooring.
In the historical centre the most remarkable monument is the Arco di Augusto, a splendid Roman triumphal arch providing a fitting gateway to the town. It was erected in 2 AD under the order of the Roman Emperor Augustus as part of his ambitious project to smarten up the Empire's road network and marks the arrival of the Via Flaminia on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. Further tourist attractions are:  the Fountain of Fortune, a whimsical 16thC fountain topped by the goddess Fortune, the Theatre of Fortune, the Malatesta Court, home to the Civic Museum and Art Gallery, boasting works by Domenichino, Guido Reni, Guercino, Warriors and Mattia Preti; the Cathedral, housing a pulpit and the seventeenth century Nolfi Baroque Chapel; the Church of Santa Maria Nuova, holding two treasures by Perugino, a Madonna with Saints and an Annunciation; the baroque Church of San Pietro in Valle and the Tombs of the Malatesta, a real masterpiece of Neo-Gothic art, housed in the porch of the Church of San Francesco. The most typical specialty is the fish stew “alla fanese”, with tomato purée and vinegar. The local Moretta is a blend of three spirits - aniseed-based anice, rum and brandy - sugar and a twist of lemon peel, topped up with strong, hot coffee. In addition to the Carnival, the most significant events taking place in Fano during the year are: The Antiques Market, which traditionally takes place on the second Sunday of each month and the preceding Saturday, Fano Jazz by the sea (July), Fano dei Cesari, a reenactment of the Roman Fano (July) and the International Festival of Fish Soup (September).

Each year the city of Fano gets transformed to host the oldest Carnival in Italy (established in 1347): parades of giant floats in papier-machè, masquerades, music, hundreds of kilos of sweets launched from floats and a final stake in which The Great Pupo is burnt, make it unique and unforgettable. According to legend it has its roots in medieval times after the episode of reconciliation between the two most important families of Fano, the Del Casseros and the Da' Carignanos. Since then the Carnival has gradually characterized, so much so that in 1872 it was decided to create a committee to organize the event which even today, after centuries, involves more than one hundred of thousands of passionate Fano people and tourists. Fano Carnival also means... culture, exhibitions, theatre, art, food and drink, festivals, music and sports.

Acqualagna lies near the entrance to the Furlo Gorge, along the ancient Via Flaminia. In the town centre there is the parish church dedicated to Saint Lucia.  Not far is the Sanctuary of Pelingo, housing  a venerated fresco of the Madonna with a Child. A remarkable site is the Church of San Vincenzo al Furlo, that is what remains of an ancient abbey of the 8 th  century, where San Romualdo and San Pier Damiani used to live. The monastery remained independent until the eleventh century when it fell under the influence of the nearby Monastery of Fonte Avellana. In Pietralata you can admire an old watch tower with a circular plan, while in Farneta there are the remains of a fortress. Along the road that leads to Piobbico are the Church of Madonna del Petriccio, the abbey church of Santa Maria Nuova and the Naro castle. In the area called Colombara is Villa Colombara, a Roman farm dating back to the 2nd century, whose rests are kept in Acqualagna Pitinum Mergens Antiquarium. Between the naked limestone cliffs on either side of the bright green water of the Candigliano river, there is the Furlo Gorge, a narrow road to pass. At one point the ancient highway passes through a tunnel hewn by hand through the hard rock. The work was ordered by Emperor Vespasian in 76 AD - a remarkable feat of Roman civil engineering. The town is included in Furlo Gorge Nature Reserve; it is one of Italy's most important centres for the truffle trade and one of the best places to head for tartufo bianco (white truffle) during the truffle season. The town claims to be the only place in Italy where you'll find one type or another of fresh truffle throughout the year, and handles around two-thirds of the entire Italian wholesale truffle business - some 50-60 metric tons per year of all varieties of truffle. It hosts  the Fiera nazionale del tartufo (National Truffle Fair) during the last weekend of October and first two weekends of November.

Furlo Gorge Nature Reserve covers an area of 3.626,94 hectares of protected land. It was established in 2004. The towns included in the reserve are: Acqualagna, Cagli, Fermignano, Fossombrone, Urbino.

The name "Furlo" derives from the Latin "forulum" ("small hole"), then popularized in Forlo and finally in Furlo. For many centuries it was a strategically important trade route along the Via Flaminia linking Rome to Rimini. In the rock inside the Gorge the Romans have hewn two tunnels by hand through the hard rock, at the point where the transit was more problematic. The work, a remarkable feat of Roman civil engineering where chisel marks in the rock can still be seen, was ordered by Emperor Vespasian in 76 AD. The great gallery is still open to pedestrian and vehicular traffic and the small gallery which is visible from the street, but to which access is possible with a guided tour only, is dated back to the first half of the first century A.D.

Sponges, Foraminifera, and Brachiopods, especially ammonites are widespread all over the area. The vegetation is varied: there are holm oaks , oaks and pastures . The sheer limestone crags of the Furlo Gorge are home for the golden eagle, the lanner, the sparrow hawk and the harrier.

In this beautiful limestone gorge, carved deeply by river Candigliano, the landscape and morphology allow us to reconstruct the geological history of more than 200 million years ago. In the rock formations of Jurassic and Cretaceous eras there are several types of fossils, the most abundant of which are the remains of a group of animals now extinct, distinguishable in four broad groupings: Phylloceratina, Lytoceratina, Ammonitina and Ancyloeratina.

The vegetation in rocky and semi rocky environments consists mainly of holms, oak woods and vast orno-ostrieti, a beech forest with a rich mesophilic flora and the prairies.The flora is though particularly rich inside the gorge, with very rare and interesting species.

The fauna includes a large number of species of natural interest. Birds of prey are especially numerous: golden eagles, peregrine falcons, kestrels, honey buzzards, the most common buzzards and the minor harriers. The Apennine wolf, fallow deer, wild boars, deer, reptiles and many other animals enrich this wonderful corner of the world.

The Candigliano river forms an ideal environment  for shorebirds such as grey herons, egrets and night herons, cormorants and the colorful kingfisher.

 Among the fish fauna, to be mentioned are carp, chub, barbel and bleaks; among the crustaceans is the river crab.

The Reserve offers many organized tourist services such as: walks in the Furlo Gorge; audio guides and a charter of naturalistic sites; birdwatching; free educational visits for school groups; hiking and trekking with various difficulty levels. An added value is provided by the project of tourist-recreational and socio-educational-cognitive-sensory initiative called " Boscodi Pan" (Pan's Wood), that's to say going for walks where the suggestions of places evoke  thoughts, sensations and unforgettable emotions, this all in a natural environment and in a context of integration.

Well worth a visit is the small romanesque Abbey of San Vincenzo, on the Acqualagna side of the gorge.

The Palazzolo Chapel is located in the Oratory of the Ascension. The capel hosts a series of important frescoes recognized by critics as “one of the most important example of 15^th-century frescoes of the Marche”. On the back wall, there is a painting representing the Ascension of Christ among the Saints Secondo and Sebastian, made by Lorenzo D’Alessandro; four evangelists were painted on the vault. On the right side, the frescoes representing the Annunciation, Trinity and Madonna and child on a throne.

The glorious past of Pergola is reflected  in the famous Gilded Bronzes of the Julian-Claudian age, which were discovered in 1946 in Cartoceto di Pergola and  are housed at the homonymous Museum  dei Bronzi Dorati di Pergola.  It’s one of the very few equestrian statues in gilded bronze which has survived to the present day. Pergola is also known as the town of the one hundred churches, rich in works of art. They’re a mirror of the important economic, political and religious power of the town during the centuries. The most important churches are: the Medieval Gothic church of San Giacomo and that of San Francesco. The town's other attraction is a heavily perfumed purple wine made with local red grapes and sold as Vernaccia di Pergola.If you have a sweet tooth you might be tempted to try the lip-smacking local liqueur called visner or vino di visciole. This heavenly digestivo is made by macerating crushed sour cherries in red wine with sugar, lemon peel and either cinnamon or cloves. Some also fortify the mix with rum. Another important precious product of Pergola is truffle, to which, in autumn, a National Fair of white truffle is dedicated.  

Parts of the collegiate church of Santa Lucia, in Piazza della Repubblica date back to the Romanesque period. The town also has a remarkable series of six painted panels by Carlo Crivelli. The finest of these, depicting Saint Mary Magdalene, is reckoned to be among the artist's most beautiful figures. You'll find them in the Polo Museale beside the Church of San Francesco.

The only set of Ancient Roman gilts bronzes kept in the world. The set represents a family group, two women in mantles and veils and two men in high rank military outfits on profusely adorned horses. Stunning unique pieces.

The library of the hermitage Fonte Avellana is one of the oldest ones as it was founded in the year 980 together with the monastery itself, which also includes the crypt ( 10^th century), the church (12^th century), the sacristy ( 18^th century), the cloister ( 11^th century) and the scriptorium ( 12^th century).

It belongs to the Camaldulese monks of the Order of St. Benedict. Since Medieval times, close to the scriptorium where works were copied and written by the Holy Fathers, there’s always been a vast library which Saint Pier Damiani requested for the community of Avellana ( 11^th century), and which was later widened by Cardinal Bressanone, a commendatory abbot.

The historical and monastic library was built by Abbot Giacinto Boni in 1733. He was fond of sciences and literature. The books, divided into groups of topics, are placed in valuable walnut bookcases dating back to the 19^th century. It was deprived of its books twice, in 1811 and in 1816, due to Napoleon’s suppression. In 1933 it could regain all of its possessions.

In modern times it includes the oldest book heritage of Fonte Avellana, which consists of about 25,000 books, all of which were printed starting from the discovery of printing ( the oldest incunabulum dates back to 1470) until the end of the 19^th century. These books are prevailingly incunabula, about 1,000 16^th century books mainly about theology, human sciences and Early Chistian philosophy.

The oldest section of the library is not only a place where old books are preserved but also offers a venue for meetings and promotes culture.

The modern library is housed in a 11^th century room which was originally used as a guest house. It’s named after Dante Alighieri and it was first opened to the public in 1965, on the occasion of the seventh centenary of the birth of the poet, as in the 21^st Canto of the Paradise in the Divine Comedy, dialoguing with Saint Pier Damiani, he describes Fonte Avellana. Allegedly the poet stayed here around 1318, when he was exiled in nearby Gubbio.

It consists of about 7,000 books mainly about theology, literature, philosophy, history and Early Christian philosophy.

The Monastery of Fonte Avellana is situated on the wooded slopes of Mount Catria (1701 m.) at 700 meters above sea level in Serra Sant'Abbondio. It dates back to late tenth century, around 980, when several hermits chose to build the first cells of a hermitage, that later became the present monastery. The spirituality of these hermits was influenced by San Romualdo from Ravenna, the father of the Camaldolese Benedictine Congregation. He lived and worked between the tenth and the eleventh century near Fonte Avellana. Today the monastery includes a large square that gives access to the church in Latin cross, covered with barrel vaults with pointed arches; the crypt built in the eleventh century is one of the oldest parts, along with the cloister and the thirteenth century scriptorium. Among the valuable volumes housed in the monastery, notworthy is the NN code dating back to the eleventh century. The prestigious Library "Dante Alighieri" contains over 10,000 volumes, including precious manuscripts and ancient holy books. The hospitality of individuals or groups is provided throughout the year.  In Fonte Avellana there are meetings of Lectio Divina and retreat days.
The Monastery of Fonte Avellana joins the project the Monasteries of the Marche.