Urbino the Picturesque

One of the least touristed regions in Italy is Marche. Its capital is a small, picturesque walled Renaissance hill town named Urbino which is located about 30km from Adriatic sea, and since 1998 Urbino’s “centro storico” (historic centre) is included in Unesco list of World Heritage Sites.

“Urvinum Mataurense” (translates as “the little city on the river Mataurus”) remains one of the most important towns for those that seeking the great Italian art and architecture. Since the second half of the 15th century Urbino was just another modest Roman, and later medieval city. Under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482 who was a very successful condottiere, a skilful diplomat and an enthusiastic patron of art and literature, the town experienced a great cultural flowering. The duke gathered around him the greatest poets, painters, and scholars of his day from all over Italy and far beyond. All those charismatic people created an exceptional urban complex, the influence of which, carried far into the rest of Europe.

The little hill town nestled on a high sloping hillside; harmoniously adapted to its physical site and to its medieval precursor is a pinnacle of Renaissance art and architecture. Only the large car parks below the town can be considered as a cacophony to the past’s aspect.

For a great first impression approach the town from Arezzo to see the fairy-tale twin towers of the huge Palazzo Ducale (Ducal Palace) that give Urbino its unmistakable skyline. Once inside, the courtyard sets the tone; a masterpiece of proportion and light carried out with the deftest of touches. Keep in mind that this palace was the first of its kind; the others you will meet across Italy are mere copies.

Among an interesting and vast network of rooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, cellars, and stables, the palace houses “Galleria Nazionale delle Marche”; a museum with a remarkable collection of paintings. Piero della Francesca’s Flagellation of Christ is included and this is one of world’s greatest and most enigmatic images. Do not leave Ducal Palace without visiting “Museo Archeologico”; the second museum inside the building complex where the visitor can meet the few traces of earlier Roman Urbinum Metaurense.

None of palace’s rooms were designed to oppress with grandeur. All were built on a human scale and decorated with glad-hearted sobriety. The Duke’s “Studiolo” is the most unusual room in the palace. His tiny study is entirely decorated in exquisite trompe l’oeil inlaid woodwork panels, some based on designs by Botticelli.

Continue your exploration of the lovely medieval town by visiting other palaces around such as “Palazzo Albani”, “Palazzo Odasi” and “Palazzo Passionei”.

And as time passes if you find yourself tired of visiting interesting buildings (!) just wander in Urbino’s beguiling streets and have a stop in the hub of the town; the animated “Piazza della Repubblica” that lies in a dip between the twin humps of a hill. There you’ll find cafes, shops, and lots of people. Many of them are students as Urbino has a university started in 1506 and it’s a center for maiolica ceramics, art, and culture.

Urbino is such a modest sized town but someone can find a considerable number of churches. In “Piazza della Repubblica” is located the Duomo (cathedral). Founded in 1021 over a 6th century religious edifice, the 12th century plan was turned 90 degrees from the current one, which is a new construction also started by Federico II. The church finished only in 1604, and had a simple plan with a nave and two aisles, but it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1789. The Roman architect Giuseppe Valadier rebuilt the building and the works lasted until 1801. The new church has a typical neo-classicist appearance, with a majestic dome.

Do not miss the really interesting small church of San Giovanni Battista. It is entirely decorated in 1416 with wall-to-ceiling frescoes by the painters Jacopo and Lorenzo Salimbeni. A few outside the region are aware of the brothers but that fact does not reduce the brilliance of their earthy vision of the life of St John the Baptist and a terrifying Crucifixion. The visitor can spot also a great number of playful small dogs in the lively scenes.

You can continue by visiting the church of Sant’Agostino which was built in Romanesque style in the 13th century, but largely modified in the following centuries; the one of San Francesco (14th century), originally a Gothic-Romanesque edifice of which an 18th century restoration has left only the portico and the bell tower; and finally the Oratory of San Giuseppe (early 16th century).

After all, if you catch yourself feeling full of architecture impressions have a stop in a rarely visited but nevertheless delightful place: The “Orto Botanico”, a small, walled botanic garden full of rare plants.

Another place the visitor can “explore” is the small fortress at the top of Urbino named Albornz; which is locally known as “La Fortezza”. This is a 14th century edifice which in the past was the defensive point for the walls. Now is a spot for great a great views of the town and surrounding hills.

Last but not least, I ought to mention that Urbino is the birthplace of the great Renaissance painter Raphael (1483). His family’s house is now a pretty little museum. A simple fresco of the Madonna and Child in one of the rooms may have been one of his earliest works.

As you leave the fairy-tale Urbino have a stop at the tombs of Duke Federico and his son, Guidobaldo, in the fine church of San Bernardino. It was built in 1491 by Francesco di Giorgio Martini and situated on the hill above the junction for the Pesaro road.

(All images by the author)

See also:

Herculaneum the Unknown

Palermo: The Capuchin Catacombs, the Museum of the Dead

Bagheria: “Villa of the Monsters”

Salvador Dali: A Photographic Journey Into an Ingenious Mind

Theatre of Epidaurus: A Marvel of Acoustics

Temple of Epicure Apollo

Galleria Ferrari