A COLLAGE OF LE MARCHE

This excursion offers an eclectic, well-studied mix of the region’s multifaceted cultural heritage. Visitors will have the chance to explore Le Marche’s religious, social, artistic and agricultural past, and its ties with the present, on tours of an archaeological site, a medieval castle, a church and an abbey.

Meet your private guide and driver at your accommodation and reach the Castello della Rancia, located halfway between the Adriatic Sea and the Sibillini mountains, just seven kilometres from Tolentino. Although this fortress may seem to possess all the features of a proper castle, including towers, battlements, a cistern and a prison, it is situated, most unusually, in the middle of a plain, instead of high up on a mountain. Indeed, a fortified farmhouse, built as a storage and granary for the Cistercian monks of the nearby Abbey of Fiastra, originally occupied this spot. In the mid-14th century the premises were confiscated by the Lord of Camerino Rodolfo Da Varano who expelled the religious order, renovated the pre-existing structure and transformed it into his private residence. As your guide will explain, while showing you around the rooms, the Castello della Rancia played a significant role in local history and was at the centre of a momentous event. It was here that Gioacchino Murat, King of Naples and brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte, was defeated by the Austrian troops in May 1815 at the Battle of Tolentino, marking the beginning of the Italian Risorgimento movement.

A short drive will take you to Tolentino, where you will visit the Basilica of San Nicola, one of central Italy’s most popular places of worship. The church preserves the relics of the Augustinian friar and miracle-worker Saint Nicholas of Tolentino who lived and preached here in the 13th and early 14th centuries. The gleaming travertine facade is embellished by a splendid Gothic portal but what draws art enthusiasts to the church is the Cappellone di San Nicola, whose brilliant wall paintings are evidence of the extraordinary artistic heights reached by local painters in the Middle Ages. The vaults and walls are entirely decorated with vivid Giottesque-style frescoes from the early 1300s which feature Evangelists, episodes from the Life of the Virgin Mary, scenes from the Life of Christ and Saint Nicholas’ miracles.

After some free time for lunch rejoin your driver and reach the ancient ruins of Urbs Salvia, Le Marche’s largest archaeological site. Founded as a colony by the Romans in the 2nd century BC, Urbs Salvia rose to become the major centre of the Fiastra Valley, thanks to its strategic location along the trade and travel route of Via Salaria Gallica. The presence of both an important sanctuary dedicated to Salus Augusta, the goddess of health, and ancient spring waters that were believed to have therapeutic properties also brought fame and prosperity to the town. Despite being sacked by the Visigoths of Alarico, abandoned, repeatedly plundered and severely damaged by earthquakes, a significant portion of Urbs Salvia has surprisingly survived to this day allowing visitors to gain a feel for what a city must have looked like in ancient Roman times. Urbs Salvia’s carefully planned urban layout proves the existence of a large, well-organised community, able to efficiently address different needs, from the supply and distribution of drinking water, to the organisation of gory spectacles.

The last stop on your tour will bring you to the Abbey of Fiastra, set against a beautiful backdrop of verdant plains and gently rolling hills. Built between 1142 and 1200, the abbey is considered to be among the finest and best-preserved examples of Cistercian architecture in Italy, reflecting the transition from the Romanesque era to the Gothic fashion. For its construction the monks retrieved building material from the nearby Roman town of Urbs Salvia and ancient capitals can still be spotted within the medieval masonry. For three centuries the abbey thrived: the farming activities carried out here became a catalyst for economic development in the area while the community became an increasingly popular religious and social hub. Your guide will lead you through the complex, which includes a church, cloister, chapter house and refectory, and fill you in on the “pray and work” lifestyle of the local monks who still inhabit the abbey and follow the precepts of the Benedictine rule.

In the afternoon your private chauffeur will drive you back to your accommodation.