Fabriano - Charter City
Distance: 250m.
Fabriano, like Bologna and Turin, belongs to the list of Italian UNESCO Creative Cities: Fabriano is inserted in the “Crafts, art and popular traditions” category.
The first historical mentions of the Fabriano Castle date back to 1040.
It’s long history makes Fabriano one of the most ancient and evocative cities of the Marches.
Le prime menzioni storiche del Castello di Fabriano risalgono al 1040.
La sua lunga storia, fa di Fabriano, uno dei borghi più antichi e suggestivi delle Marche.
What to see:
What to see:
Hosted in the monumental complex of the ex Dominican Cloister, restaured just recently, the Museum stands for seven centuries of local paper production. In a vast room located on the ground floor a medieval paper machine(Gualchiera in Italian) has been rebuilt following the 14th century traditions. The Museum is split in sections to showcase a variety of subjects, from the manifacturing of paper and relative tools of the trade, to the exhibit of filigrees and updated techniques to produce them, as well as the development of this craft in the historical city of paper. Last but not least we get introduced to the evolution of production processes trough a variety of carefully conserved documents.
Civic Art Gallery “Bruno Molajoli”
The vast collection in here offers a qualitative insight in the pictorial production in the Central Appenines and Fabriano from the 13th to the 16th century. The variety is impressive: importand and rare romanic paintings, organic cycles of works from masters of the caliber of Allegretto Nuzi (14th century) and Antonio da Fabriano (15th century) as well as a collection of tapestries (16th-17th century).
Not to neglect the suggestive wooden sculptures depicting the Adoration of the Magi and the Holy Representation, datable respectively to the second half and the end of the 14th century.
Bicycle Trade Museum
This collection of vintage bicycles, used at the time by craftsmans and traders alike, showcase a cross section in Italian history from the twenties to the sixties of the last century, of great educative and social value. The exposition unveils all the dramatic effort and hard work necessary both to overcome everyday issues and to renew a dignified life from the ashes of the turmoil brought by the first and second world wars. It is a warning for those who want everything right away, who chose the easy path trying to avoid sacrifice and hard work. The bicycles come from every corner in Italy, a reminder that the will to look for an earnest and dignified solution to those problems was widespread. The bicycles in the collection are all authentic, but no exact construction year could be established as they recieved lots of alterations over the years. The collection is owned by Luciano Pellegrini.
Gentile da Fabriano Theater
The first stationary theatre was built inside the town hall and inaugurated in S. Giovanni’s day in 1692. The supervisor was Pietro Mauro, a famous architect and scenographer from Venice. In 1717 the town council took over the theatre, and promoted it’s restoration in 1750. During the Napoleonic era it was the Aurora theatre, which later became condemned for living in 1844: in 1847 Pietro Ghinelli inaugurated the new Camurio theatre. In 1863 it burned down in a fire. Finally, in 1884 the new town theatre was inaugurated with the performance of Aida. The same local artisans responsible for the Camurio theatre were put to work for the new decorations: the ceiling and bedside table were designed by the renowned master of perspective drawing Luigi Serra, while Luigi Samoggia was tasked with drawing the chiaroscuro in the main room.
Frasassi Caverns - Genga
Distance: 11km (easly reachable by train)
Genga is a small medieval castle which still has most of it’s defensive walls intact.
Frasassi Caverns
The discovery of the “Huge Wind Caverns” (as they were called) is dated back to the 25 september 1971, when Rolando Silvestri, of the Marches Speleologist Group CAI with headquartes in Ancona, found it’s entrance during Giancarlo Cappanera’s expedition. The cavern complex falls under the jurisdiction of the regional natural park of Frasassi, and is made of a bunch of caves of varius sizes, the first of which is the Ancona Abyss, an enormous chasm of 180 x 120 m and 200 m in depth.
Assisi
Distance: 60km
Bound to San Francesco’s tale, this unique and mystic place is a small medieval town untouched by the passing of time. Still to this day it is enclosed in a massive wall, dominated by the bulky Rocca Maggiore and the great Basilica. Walking down it’s winding streets shows just how timeless Assisi can be, making you wonder about what year of the lord we’re actually in.
What to see:
San Francesco’s Basilica
In 1228, just 2 years after Francesco’s death, the Pope Gregorio IX entrusts brother Elia with the holy man’s remains and the plans for a church to hold them. They chose a spot called “Infernal Hill” because public executions were held there and renamed it to “Heavenly Hill”. The Basilica is split in Superior, where we have a fresco from Giotto himself called “San Francesco’s life cycle”, and Inferior, a typical medieval church.
La Rocca Maggiore
The Rocca has been protecting Assisi for over 8 centuries: built in 1174, it was destroyed and then rebuilt by the will of cardinal Egidio Albornoz. The view on the underlying landscape of the Umbran valleys is well worth climbing the walls for.
People’s Tower
Majestic and elegant, the People’s Tower rises over the town plaza. While the construction of the great quadratic building dates back to the second half of the 13th century it was finished only in 1305. The clock was added in the second half of the 15th century.
Gubbio
Distance: 37km
If you love history and art this is your ideal destination: the rich churches, the town hall, the polished monuments standing in between crenelled buildings make for this Umbran city a precious place deserving to be seen.
What to see:
The Consul’s Palace
One of the most important and majestic buildings during the middle ages, at the heart of the town stands the Consul’s Palace alongside the complex of Piazza Grande and the Potestà’s Palace, representing the grandeur of the eugibine’s political institutions in the 14th century. In full gothinc style, the Palace with it’s bell tower and panoramic lodge also hosts a magnficent Civic museum.
The Civic Museum
In the Consul’s Palace halls the main museum in Gubbio can be found since the early years of the 20th century: the splendid Civic Museum, which tells the local’s story from back in the stone age to nowadays. Most relevant are the Iguvine Tables, seven bronze slabs inscribed with the most vast and ancient description of religious rites, as well as the most important umbran text to date.
The Roman Theeatre
An ideal spot for open-air performances, the Roman Theatre is a symbol of Gubbio’s glorious past. Built between the year 55 and 27 B.C. out of limestone blocks refined to ashlar surfaces, the theatre stands tall in the Guastuglia archeologic area.
Conero Coastline
Distance: 74km
Along the Marche’s coast there is an extraordinary strip of land protected by the Monte Conero, south of Ancona.
Here the green of the headland meets the blue sea, creating a stunning landscape of accessible sandy beaches alternated to ones accessible only trough trakking paths. But there is more than the sea to be found when walking along those marked paths, as there is beautiful nature alongside old historic cities and medieval fortresses.
