Home
PIEDMONT Piedmont
Country Apartments
Italian Lake Holidays
Golf Food Wine
Piedmont Tours
Turin
Turin Museums
Books on Piedmont
B&B's/Hotels
Ski Piedmont
Ski Bardonecchia
LE MARCHE Le Marche
 Rent a Marche Villa
Le Marche B & B's
Marche Country Stay
Le Marche Books
SARDINIA Books on Sardinia
Sardinia-Beaches
More Beaches
Sardinia by Boat
Sardinian Villas
Sardinia B & B's
Sardinia Hotels
LUXURY Best Luxury Hotels
Best Luxury Villas
FOOD & WINE Food & Wine Online
Ice Wine
Best Cook Books
Piedmont Recipes
Italian Recipes
Best Restaurant Guide
Cooking Courses
FASHION Handmade  Shoes
Italian Boots & Shoes
Handbags & More
EVERYTHING ELSE Photo Gallery
Learn Italian
Train Travel
Real Estate
Travel Links
What's New
My Secret
Contact Me
BORING but...

[?] Subscribe To This Site

XML RSS
Add to Google
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My MSN
Subscribe with Bloglines

Urbino – le Marche


Urbino is a small, absolutely gorgeous and wonderful place. No tour of Italy should exclude it. This town, and nearby Urbania, remain special places for my wife and I, with many happy memories.

Medieval Fiat

Urbino was the first place I stayed in le Marche and the first place in which we rented a beautiful Italian cottage. Our first real holiday in Italy as a married couple, the time spent here cemented forever my love for le Marche and for my wife of course!

Where to Stay

Hotels in Urbino are a pretty miserable lot. The best hotel and ideal base to explore, if you have a car, is the Country House ca' Virginia. The Virginia is a rustic farmhouse that has been painstakingly restored. The brick walls and old beam ceilings are quite lovely.

This is also a lovely place to base yourself to explore the surrounding areas from Urbino to San Leo (a delightful hill top village) .

About Urbino

The town lies between the river valleys of the Metauro and Foglia rivers, perched upon two hills and offering breathtaking views all the way across lush rolling hills to the Appenine Mountains beyond.

The old town enclosed by ancient walls is known as the cradle of the Italian Renaissance and is still beautifully preserved, maintaining in many ways the character of the times.

Some of the great names of the Renaissance were born here. Don’t miss the following museums to see some of the great accomplishments of the leading figures of the time; the National Gallery of the Marche, the Albani Museum, the Gessi Museum, the Archeological Museum and the Typography Museum.

Churches and cathedrals of great interest are the Urbino Cathedral, the Church of St Francesco, the Church of St Domenico, and the Church of St. Spirito. The town also has a monument to one of its most famous sons – Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael), the famous Renaissance artist - visit his fifteenth century house located in the old town.

Other illustrious names born here include: Raffaello Sanzio, Donato Bramante, Girolamo Genga, Federico Barocci, Federico Brandanti and many more.

There are countless other things to see including the Palazzo Ducale, an important example of Renaissance architecture; the building surrounds a beautiful courtyard and is the symbol of the town.

The description of the town by Carlo Bo – the recently deceased president of the local University – is wonderful. I have tried to loosely translate to English the way he described the town and though a lot is lost in translation it still conveys the special something about the town and perhaps explains why this little Le Marche town is such a wonderful place.

Carlo writes: “There exist those towns where the souls remain forever open to discovery … by the beauty of their nature, their history and of the human endeavour which here was expressed and lives forever. This is Urbino, city of emotions, unpredictable and incomparable. This is not only for the artistic patrimony, but for the city itself, the extraordinary beauty and for the very air that one breathes.”

Whoever arrives in this magical town for the first time is in for an extraordinary surprise, a leap back in time and a journey that lifts ones spirit.

Please subscribe to my monthly newsletter, My Piedmont and Marche Top Tips. It let’s you know what information I have added and provides you with even more insider advice on my Italy.

Enter your E-mail Address
Enter your First Name (optional)
Then

Don't worry -- your e-mail address is totally secure.
I promise to use it only to send you My Piedmont and Marche Top Tips .





Looking for something in particular? Try our site search engine.



Return from Urbino to the Main Marche Page


footer for Urbino page