THE SEA - PORTO RECANATI AND THE SURROUNDING AREA
Beaches of golden sand, pebbles or reefs, picturesque bays, tourist ports and green palms that reflect in the blue of the Adriatic along the 180 kilometres of the region’s coastline.
The nearest town to the Sambuco is Porto Recanati, with its nine kilometres of beaches, clear waters and view of Monte Conero in the background.
Those who wish to venture inland are simply spoilt for choice.
The northern coast, known as the “Hill Riviera”, is characterised by its promontories, coves and small inlets. It’s worth the trouble to take a trip along the panoramic road that runs past picturesque fishing villages, through the Monte San Bartolo Regional Park and takes you all the way to Pesaro, the town of the great Gioachino Rossini.
Senigallia, which is not far, is famous throughout Europe for its “velvet beach”, twelve kilometres of very fine white sand.
Proceeding south you get to Ancona which is where the “Conero Riviera” starts, with its alternating hidden beaches and rocky cliffs over the sea that can only be reached by walking along small paths or by boat.
In this area a panoramic road that plunges into the depths of Mediterranean maquis, first leads to Portonovo Bay and then to Sirolo, a small village perched over the sea, Numana and Marcelli.
South of Conero the coast once again becomes flat towards the seaside resort of Porto Sant’Elpidio, the “Green Picene Riviera”.
www.turismomarche.it
CONTATTI
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RECANATI – LEOPARDI'S HOMELAND
Recanati, just like other Marche communities, is a typical “balcony town” due to the extensive view that it affords: countless towns and villages are scattered over the wide countryside, with plains, valleys and hills. The place is renowned universally for being the birthplace of the great poet Giacomo Leopardi, besides the magnificence of its landscapes.
The poet’s house can be visited, including the library which contains 20,000 books collected by Count Monaldo, Giacomo’s father. The town also became famous for Beniamino Gigli (Recanati 1890 - Rome 1957). There are many churches as well as the Diocesan Museum in the Old Bishop’s Palace with its evocative papal jails.
INFO: www.comune.recanati.mc.it
MACERATA - THE TOWN OF THE OPERA FESTIVAL
At 314 m altitude, on one of the hills that separates the valleys of the Potenza and Chienti rivers, the town stills conserves part of its 14th century wall.
A walking tour will bring you to the Porta Montana, the Church of Santa Maria della Porta, the five-arched Fonte Maggiore in the centre built in 1326.
Don’t miss the elegant Loggia dei Mercanti, San Giorgio church and the cathedral, both by Cosimo Morell, and the small basilica of the Madonna della Misericordia, set between more recent buildings, dating back to 1497 but with the interior and facade completely restored with balanced refinement by Vanvitelli (1742).
In the summer it hosts the Macerata Opera Festival.
INFO: www.comune.macerata.it
MONTELUPONE - THE ANCIENT VILLAGE
This is one of the small communities that has best preserved its rich history, with its castellated walls and the four gates that in past centuries were closed at sunset and reopened at dawn, and the original stone road surfaces. In the lovely piazza, which is at the heart of the village, there is the 14th century Palazzetto del Podestà (or Priors’ Palace) with its tower, an exceptional work of architecture with its rectangular shape, showing the Lomabard influence.
On the noble floor we find the Town Picture Gallery which should ideally be visited along with the Arts and Ancient Trades Museum housed in the underground section of the Town Hall.
Wandering the streets of Montelupone, you will encounter several ancient family residences: homes belonging to the Tomassini-Barbarossa, Chigi-Celsi-De Sanctis, Narcisi-Magner, Fresco, Emiliani, Giachini and other families.
Outside the walls, about 4 km from the centre, there is the Benedictine Abbey of San Firmano, with its fine fanlight window on the Byzantine style door.
INFO: www.comune.montelupone.mc.it
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