HEAD FOR THE HILLS

Meet your private guide and driver at your accommodation and set off to explore two charming hilltop towns in central Le Marche.

Resting atop the Marche hills, just thirty minutes from the Conero Riviera, Recanati is a pretty little town with a remarkable literary and artistic heritage, that prides itself on being nicknamed the “city of poetry”.

Perhaps it was the idyllic views of the surrounding countryside to be admired from Recanati’s panoramic belvedere, that inspired the oeuvres of the three hometown heroes: composer Giuseppe Persiani, opera tenor Beniamino Gigli and the one and only Giacomo Leopardi. Rightfully reputed the greatest Italian poet of the 19th century, Leopardi is remembered for his tremendously pessimistic outlook on the human condition and contradictory attitude towards Mother Nature, perceived both as a cruel stepmother and an endless source of enchantment. To celebrate the memory of the town’s most famous citizen, several plaques bearing Leopardi’s verses are scattered throughout Recanati, marking the sites that stirred his emotions.

You begin your day with a tour of the Civic Museum of Villa Colloredo Mels, showcasing a small but precious collection of artworks, including four of Renaissance artist Lorenzo Lotto’s masterpieces. From here your guide will lead you on a leisurely walk through town on a quest for the most significant landmarks in the life of Giacomo Leopardi. In Piazza Leopardi, dominated by the Palazzo Comunale and the 12th century Torre del Borgo, you will come face to face with the poet, immortalized in an 1898 marble statue created by Ugolino Panichi on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Leopardi’s birth. Just a few steps away, inside the cloister of the Church of Saint Augustine, your guide will point out the Tower of the Lonely Sparrow which features in the first lines of Leopardi’s well-loved poem. Standing in Piazza Sabato del Villaggio is Palazzo Leopardi, where the poet was born and spent his childhood bent over his books. On the same square you will also see the Church of Santa Maria di Montemorello where he was baptised and Silvia’s house, once the home of the coachman’s daughter to whom he dedicated a sorrowful composition on the destruction of the illusions of youth. Last but certainly not least, you will reach the summit of Mount Tabor, better known as the Hill of Infinity, which was Leopardi’s favourite haunt. Here the poet came to meditate on the tragic aspects of existence and seek comfort in the marvellous views of Le Marche’s hills.

After some free time for lunch rejoin your guide and driver and reach the next stop on your tour. The lively town of Macerata sits on top of a hill, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti. Its origins date back to the 5th and 6th centuries AD when the Goths destroyed the nearby town of Helvia Ricina prompting its inhabitants to take refuge here. Remains of medieval walls enclose a beautifully preserved historic centre, crossed by a maze of cobblestone streets and punctuated with elegant palazzi and churches, built between the 16th and 19th centuries.

As home to one of the oldest universities in Europe, established as far back as 1290, the town combines the verve of modern-day student life with the brio of the Adriatic Riviera and the refined atmosphere of a cultural and artistic hub. In summer Macerata’s squares throb with day-trippers flocking in from the coast, drawn here for the month-long lyric season. World-known opera celebrities take the stage at the stunning open-air Sferisterio, a 19th century Neoclassical-style arena originally built as a ball game stadium and now known as the setting of Macerata’s popular opera festival, owing to its excellent acoustics.

In Piazza della Libertà, the heart of Macerata’s political and social life, you will admire a remarkable collection of historic buildings: the Neoclassical-style Palazzo del Comune, the Renaissance-era Loggia dei Mercanti, the imposing Palazzo della Prefettura and the 64-metre-high clock tower. The best of the city’s architecture lines up along Corso Matteotti while the most important religious sites can be found in Piazza San Vincenzo Strambi. Here you will visit the Basilica of the Madonna della Misericordia, richly decorated with frescoes, stuccoes and polychrome marble, and the Cathedral of San Giuliano housing a 14th century tryptych by Allegretto Nuzi.

Not to be missed is the Palazzo Buonaccorsi, home to the Civic Museum of Antique and Contemporary Art. Inside, works by Italian painters are on display, including a precious Madonna and Child by Renaissance artist Carlo Crivelli. Worthy of note is the Sala dell’Eneide, decorated with flamboyant Rococò-style frescoes depicting scenes from Virgil’s Aeneid. The palazzo’s basement also hosts the Museo delle Carrozze, showcasing a one-of-a-kind collection of carriages, saddles, whips and bridles bequeathed by Macerata’s wealthiest families.

After the tour rejoin your driver and return to your accommodation.