MARCHE

The Capital of the Marche Region,  its Greek origins and Roman domination are still visible in the Arch of Trajan, the walls, and the Roman amphitheatre. In the city centre to discover the beautiful medieval churches and their imposing cathedral, you can not miss a visit to the "fountain of 13 spouts".Its historic center, a few meters from the ferry embarkation, houses art treasures, beautiful buildings and that liveliness that only port cities possess. To be discovered on foot, from  the port to the Duomo, up to the Cardeto park and the Passetto beach, where the people of Ancona go to enjoy the sea, Ancona is a city that knows how to amaze. one of the first monuments to attract attention is the pentagonal building at the entrance to the ancient port, the so-called Mole Vanvitelliana, named after its architect Luigi Vanvitelli. Going up to the acropolis, you will see the beautiful church of the Gesù, another work by Vanvitelli, overlooking the sea. Next, the Roman Amphitheater, rediscovered in the nineteenth century, and finally the Cathedral of San Ciriaco, the Roman-Gothic basilica built on the remains of a temple dedicated to Venus and an early Christian basilica

One of the most important centres of the Italian Renaissance, whose artistic charm and architectural heritage are still preserved today. Urbino is a city of vast historical and artistic wealth. From a simple village, it became the “cradle of the Renaissance” and, even today, walking through its historical centre you can breathe in the 15th-century air. In 1998, Urbino was lincluded in the UNESCO World Heritage List for being a point of attraction for the most illustrious Renaissance scholars and artists from all over Italy and the world, and for having influenced cultural progress in the rest of Europe, while managing to keep its exceptional urban complex almost intact. in the 15th century, thanks to Federico da Montefeltro.

Fermo will amaze you with the extraordinary panoramic views of the sea and the hills. Its charm and beauty can be grasped by wandering through the narrow and winding streets, often still all in terracotta , a legacy of Roman and medieval origins and through the alleys of the historic center , and in the alleys surrounded by dark houses. Or by observing the fifteenth-century palaces, the Renaissance buildings that we bear witness to the city over the centuries. The heart and symbol of Fermo is precisely Piazza del Popolo, which has always been a spectator and active part of the city's events. It is overlooked by the symbolic places of the city, such as the Renaissance Palazzo dei Priori with the Civic Art Gallery and the Sala del Mappamondo, which houses the oldest fund of the Civic Library or the Duomo with its asymmetrical façade and in Istrian stone and inside a treasure trove of works of art such as a Greek-Byzantine icon of the twelfth century or the remains of the mosaic floor of the previous early Christian church of the fifth century on which it was built.

Macerata is located between the Adriatic sea and the Appennine Mountains surrounded by hills overlooking the beautiful sea. In the central Piazza della Libertà is the Loggia dei Mercanti with two-tier arcades dating from the Renaissance. There are a number of striking palaces, mostly along Corso Matteotti, including Palazzo dei diamanti. Next to the Loggia dei Mercanti, Corso della Repubblica leads to Piazza Vittorio Veneto where, in the Palazzo Ricci, there is a modern art gallery. Another museum is Palazzo Buonaccorsi which contains the Eneide Hall (a gallery with paintings and frescoes from the 18th century) and the Carriages Museum. Here you can also admire the splendid frescoed vault of the Aeneid hall and do not miss the Adoration of the Magi by Tintoretto, which once embellished the Bramantesque church of S. Maria delle Vergini, with a slender octagonal dome and which is located outside the walls, about 2 kilometers from Porta Picena. The Arena Sferisterio Association, founded by the Municipality of Macerata and its Province, promotes and organises the Macerata Opera Festival,with the aim of promoting and organising festivals, opera seasons, and other artistic and cultural events.

Pesaro in 2017 it obtained UNESCO recognition  as a Creative City for music, for the promotion and reinterpretation of Rossini's music, having been the birthplace of the famous composer Gioachino Rossini, born in Pesaro in 1792 and died in Passy, Paris in 1868. Among the buildings of religious architecture we note: the Cathedral, erected on the remains of a late Roman building, which boasts an interesting mosaic heritage; the Church of Sant'Agostino, which preserves a remarkable Gothic-Venetian portal on the façade and important paintings inside; the Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie, built in the thirteenth century by the Malatesta family and rebuilt in Baroque style. Among the monuments and museums worthy of note not to be missed are: the fifteenth-century Rocca Costanza, the Doge's Palace, the Oliveriano Archaeological Museum and the Civic Museums, with the Art Gallery and the Museum of Ceramics. The Sonosphere, a space designed for the immersive use of three-dimensional sound and audio-visual content; Casa Rossini, which preserves documentary material, including prints and memorabilia related to the life and work of the great composer .

Ascoli Piceno still retains the unparalleled charm of the villages of central Italy where time seems not to have passed. The stately and elegant squares, the historic churches full of treasures, the towers and bell towers that dot its profile. The history of Ascoli Piceno is based on ancient origins. If finds indicate that the area was already inhabited in the Neolithic era, it is in the third century BC that the Romans settled in the territory of the Piceni, making Asculum a nerve center thanks to its position on the Via Salaria. Many and varied events involved the city over the centuries but the Roman period for Ascoli Piceno, and all the Marche, was synonymous with great prosperity. Among all Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Arringo. Palazzo dei Capitani with its crenellated medieval tower, an architectural symbol of the entire city. Among the museums we recommend the Civic Art Gallery housed in Palazzo Arringo where you can admire works, among many others, by Turner, Morelli, Palazzi, Celentano, Pellizza da Volpedo, De Carolis.

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The splendid city of Loreto, immersed in the Marche countryside, owes its fame to the sanctuary where the Holy House of the Virgin Mary is preserved and venerated; a sacred place, defined by John Paul II as the "true Marian heart of Christianity". The sanctuary has been for centuries and still is one of the most important places of pilgrimage in the Catholic world. It has been visited by about 200 saints and blesseds, and by numerous Popes.In this town you can breathe air of art and spirituality. The sanctuary of the Holy House of Mary, located on a hill, is one of the main pilgrimage destinations in the world. The art and history of this village can be breathed step by step in the churches and streets.The magnificent sanctuary in Loreto. Among the most valuable works, the marble covering that wraps the walls of the Holy House, commissioned by Julius II and designed by Bramante (1507) is considered one of the greatest sculptural masterpieces of Renaissance art.

Characteristic in Recanati, is the  wonderful surrounding landscape located halfway between sunny hills and blue sea.  The birthplace of one of the most famous poets of Italian literature, Giacomo Leopardi, has been defined by himself as the "city of infinity". Everything in Recanati evokes Giacomo Leopardi: from the streets and squares to the monuments, from the tourist plaques and the signs of the clubs to the doors of the artisan shops that bear Leopardi's verses on the door. Then there are the places of Giacomo and his poems.In Recanati the suggestions about Leopardi are certainly strong, but the town has a charm of its own due to its millenary history, the architecture of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries of the palaces along the main streets, the many works of art preserved in churches and museums, such as the precious collection of paintings by Lorenzo Lotto in the Civic Art Gallery.