From San Benedetto del Tronto to Fossombrone

Continue towards Offida it is famous for the laborious and patient art of bobbin lace, an ancient tradition that has been handed down from generation to generation for at least five centuries. You can start the tour of the enchanted village by admiring the incessant work of wooden spindles in the agile hands of the lace makers. Along the streets of the center there are shops that sell the precious works by assisting, often, also to their realization, with a surprising incessant movement of the spindles, with an intertwining of threads fixed by pins. And if you want to discover all the secrets then don't miss the Bobbin Lace Museum, inside the nineteenth-century De Castellotti-Pagnanelli palace, which also exhibits a dress worn by Naomi Campbell. Built in 1820 where once stood the ancient Municipal House of which the elegant fifteenth-century portico used as a facade, Offida is located on a rocky spur, between the Tesino and Tronto valleys, and his heart is Piazza del Popolo, with an unusual triangular shape, overlooked by buildings different in style and material we find the Serpente Aureo Theater, from the typical plan of the eighteenth-century Italian theaters, On the proscenium, the ancient curtain painted by Giovanni Battista Magini, depicting the legend of the mythical Golden Snake

The journey continues passing through a strip of Abruzzo, we touch Ancarano situata tra la vallata del Tronto e la Val Vibrata che fu un insediamento romano, given the particular and privileged position of “vedetta” on the Tronto valley, on the Via Salaria and near the Vibrata river. From here crossing folignano we come to Ascoli Piceno, città fondata dall’omonima civiltà dei Piceni secoli prima che venisse fondata Roma. Ascoli Piceno, a city of towers, churches, squares and buildings. The stone, so, is the protagonist of the landscape: the entire historic center was built by sculpting the travertine blocks of the nearby Piceno quarries. This makes it extraordinarily harmonious and uniform, elegant and welcoming. The synthesis of all this beauty meets in Piazza del Popolo, overlooked by the Church of San Francesco, the Palazzo dei Capitani del Popoli, medieval houses and arcades. Considered one of the most beautiful squares in Italy, Piazza del Popolo si contende il cuore degli ascolani con la vicina Arringo Square where the other most important monuments of Ascoli are located: Palazzo dell’Arringo, seat of the Civic Art Gallery, the Cathedral of Sant’Emidio, the Baptistery of San Giovanni and the Episcopal Palace with the Diocesan Museum. Cities of art off the beaten tourist routes made by Italians, Ascoli is also worth a visit for the traditional Marche welcome and excellent gastronomy.

Percorrendo una bella strada panoramica attraversando tutto il territorio piceno passando da Rotella, poi toccando Montalto delle Marche, Monte Rinaldo, and then head towards Monsanpietro Morico, as far as Montegiorgio per poi superare Mogliano e arriviamo all’Abbadia di FIastra. Here we find the Abbey of Chiaravalle di Fiastra which is one of the best preserved Cistercian Abbeys in Italy. The church is bare and austere and is almost completely built in brick, but the complex with its almost intact environments and still inhabited by the monks, offers all visitors, habitual and not, the opportunity to participate in religious life and immerse yourself in a suggestive atmosphere of spirituality, adjacent is the palace of the Giustiniani Bandini princes, than in 1773 they took over from the Cistercian monks in the possession of the lands. The abbey is now the seat of the Abbadia di Fiastra Nature Reserve, covering 1825 hectares of land Urbisaglia, the ancient “Urbs Salvia” was a Roman colony and municipality, overlooking the Fiastra valley, chewing and cold, worthy heir of that distant and glorious Roman city, witnessed in Archaeological park. Recognized as a regional archaeological park in 1994, it extends for approx 40 hectares and is the most important and spectacular of the Marche. In the present country, founded in the Middle Ages on the hill above, notable is the Rocca, built between the thirteenth and fifteenth century., trapezoidal in shape with four towers and a keep with Ghibelline battlements. Nearby is the Church of the Addolorata, with a portal of Roman origin and frescoes from the early sixteenth century and the Collegiate Church of San Lorenzo, built between 1790 and the 1812.

We resume the road and cross it Serrapetrona, place known for its typical red wine, the Vernaccia, whose production is allowed in a very limited area to get to the next stage, San Severino Marche. Here there are numerous Gothic churches visible in the city and in the area, both the works left by the local pictorial school which had its greatest exponents in the Salimbeni brothers and Lorenzo d’Alessandro. The heart of the city is the beautiful Piazza del Popolo, with a characteristic oval plant. Tra gli altri edifici si notano il Palazzo Servanzi Collio, in terracotta and ashlar, e il cinquecentesco Palazzo dei Governatori, con la Torre dell’Orologio. La piazza custodisce il Teatro Feronia, il cui interno è in stile neoclassico.Osservando San Severino da lontano si nota subito l’imponente e meraviglioso Castello al Monte, which dominates the territory with the Smeducci Tower (pendant like that of Pisa). The architectural complex of the Castle, on the top of Monte Nero, is counted among the places to see in San Severino Marche. Nearby we find the source of the seven spouts (13th century) which took its name from the number of spouts that fed it. The elegant building with a two-arched portico, originally resting on grooved columns, it was renovated and restored several times. Located in the Valley of the Grilli we meet the caves of Sant’Eustachio, the original building was dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel of Domora. The monastery stood out for its intense hospitality activity, accommodation for travelers and the wonders offered by the dripping water of the caves.

We will continue towards Matelica, from here it comes to Serra San Quirico, where we turn in the direction Arcevia, watershed between the hilly countryside and the first mountains of the Umbrian-Marchigiano Apennines, driving along a road with a long series of curves will lead to Pergola, nellthe Val Cesano to end our itinerary a Fossombrone, in the middle valley of the Metauro. on the route of the ancient Via Flaminia

Fossombrone whose name derives from Forum Sempronius, Roman center of the imperial era, it is characterized by a medieval center lying on the slope of a hill and dominated by a citadel and the ruins of the Malatesta fortress. The heart of the historic center is Corso Garibaldi and its characteristic double portico called "the lodges" which are divided into lodges for the rich and lodges for the poor., the House Museum which is located in the sixteenth century is noteworthy Pergamino Palace.It is divided into twenty rooms, of which only one of ancient art, the rest contain works of contemporary and modern art by the best Italian artists. One of the best examples of Baroque in the area, è la Chiesa di San Filippo located in the main street for the wealth of decorations kept inside. It is divided into twenty rooms, of which only one of ancient art, the rest contain works of contemporary and modern art by the best Italian artists. E’ da visitare anche il Parco archeologico Forum Sempronii dove gli scavi effettuati hanno portato alla luce parte della consolare Flaminia, numerous arcaded buildings, remains of the walls, a building partially used as a spa and a section of the Roman paving. A magical place that attracts photographers and enthusiasts is the Concordia Bridge on the Metauro river that through its reflection, gives a poetic and exciting representation of Fossombrone. From 1792, it is one of the most praised in Italy for the simplicity of its unique round arch