A TIME CAPSULE UNLOCKED

Meet your private chauffeur outside your accommodation and relax on the ride to Fermo. Situated along the slopes of the 320-metre-high Sabulo hill, in south-eastern Le Marche, this pretty little town is one of the region’s major cultural centres. Fermo boasts a remarkable historic and artistic heritage which, coupled with the wonderful views of the surrounding countryside to be admired from its belvedere, contributes to making this town a prime destination for visitors to the region.

Fermo’s founding dates as far back as the 3rd century BC when the ancient Romans conquered this area, up until then occupied by the Piceni tribe. Remains of stone walls together with an amazingly well preserved system of underground cisterns offer a glimpse of the town’s early beginnings as the Roman colony of Firmum Picenum.

The hilltop fortress that dominated the town in the Middle Ages was destroyed in 1445 during a popular uprising against the ruling Sforza family. Today the site is occupied by the municipal gardens which afford fabulous views of the marchigiano landscape, extending all the way to the Adriatic Sea. Your guide will show you around the nearby Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, built on the site of a long lost pagan temple. The splendid Romanesque-Gothic facade is all that remains of the original 13th century church which was renovated in the late 1700s. Inside it houses a sarcophagus from the 4th century, a Byzantine icon and a Paleochristian mosaic featuring peacocks.

From here make your way down to the town centre, pausing to admire the noble palazzi that line Corso Cefalonia and Corso Cavour, as well as the Torre Matteucci, Fermo’s only surviving medieval tower. The beating heart of Fermo is Piazza del Popolo. The square is surrounded by elegant porticoes and the town’s most important historic buildings: the Palazzo degli Studi, the Palazzo Apostolico and the Palazzo dei Priori. The latter is home to the Civic Art Gallery showcasing a noteworthy collection of paintings by artists from Le Marche and Veneto. Among the significant works you will admire here are Peter Paul Rubens’ Adoration of the Shepherds, Jacobello del Fiore’s Stories of Saint Lucia and Vittore Crivelli’s Crucifixion. The Sala del Mappamondo, is also included in the visit. This room preserves some 16,000 volumes mostly dating from the 16th century and a globe created by the geographer Silvestro Amanzio Moroncelli in 1713.

The final stop on your tour will lead you beneath the ground, to Fermo’s best-known attraction: a 2,000-year-old Roman cistern. Its scale and scientific ingenuity are evidence of the expertise of the town’s ancient founders in the field of hydraulics, engineering and urban planning. The system covers approximately 2,000 square meters and consists of thirty interconnecting subterranean chambers divided into three rows that could efficiently provide Fermo with an adequate supply of drinking water.

After some free time for lunch rejoin your driver and return to your accommodation.