Even if we have been wandering around our region for more than 5 years now (and much more we did before that), there are still some villages and areas that we haven’t talked about yet.
We mentioned Fossombrone when Isabelle and Erik traced back the old Roman route Via Flaminia, that used to cross this city halfway between the Adriatic Sea and the Apennines. And yet, we haven’t delved into its beauty, art and history. Is it because Fossombrone has so much to visit that we should present it little by little?
This is what I did some days ago, when I found myself strolling down the main road in Fossombrone and started discovering more and more interesting sites, that I decided that I must definitely come back to finish my discovery tour.
I’ll accompany you now in this from-the-river-to-the-mountain tour in Fossombrone.
I parked my car in a free parking lot right next to the centre (here are the coordinates) and started my tour along Corso Garibaldi and its beautiful covered walked. Pay attention to the details here: if you notice that on one side there are mostly churches and important palaces and on the other there are more simple shops, well, you are right. The walk on the left used to be called “loggia dei ricchi” (walk of the rich) and hosts nowadays the baroque Church of San Filippo, Sant’Agostino Church, the Bishop’s Palace, the Municipality and the Cathedral. On the right you can find shops and restaurant. These two covered walks were built after the year 1000 when, with the increasing numbers of merchants, Corso Garibaldi was equipped to host their activities with inns and taverns. The peculiarity of the two walks was so felt that in the seventeenth century there was even a ban on opening butchers, inns and taverns on the right side.
Unfortunately I had little time to visit each and every one of the beautiful palaces, but I warned you, Fossombrone is a city to discover… in legs!
My ultimate goal was to reach Ponte Della Concordia, which is exactly at the end of Corso Garibaldi. The best view of this Instagram-friendly bridge is along the river Metauro, where a calm and quiet park urges you to sit down and observe the nature around you. The bridge was originally built in 1792, in Furlo stone and covered with bricks. It was destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt in 1947 faithful to the original.
Looking over the bridge and up, I caught glimpses of potential interesting buildings. How could I not start to walk up towards them? To my surprise, Fossombrone has three different courts: the high, the low and the red one.
The red one (in the lower part) has nowadays private housings. The lower palace cannot be visited at the moment because it has been undergoing architectural and artistic restoration. It was one of the residences of the dukes of Urbino in Perugia.
The upper court can be reached via two picturesque stairways: the first is the one that starts from “Palazzo del Magistrato”, in front of the Cathedral in Piazza. The second is that of via Lavinia Feltre della Rovere, which can be reached by going up the street near the beautiful church of San Filippo. I went up via the first one and came down from the second one.
The upper court is the ancient Renaissance palace and residence of the lords of the city. It was built by Federico da Montefeltro starting from 1464 as a ducal seat and the hand of the architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini is recognizable in the various stages of expansion of the building. It now hosts the Archaeological Museum and Civic Art Gallery of Fossombrone.
But, wait, looking up again, there are yet some other steps to climb.
Going up the view is amazing! You can see Gola del Furlo, which is a few kilometres away and the whole River Metauro under you. This part of Fossombrone is..actually a small village called Cittadella (Citadel) where the once-mighty Rocca Malatestiana stood at 250 masl. Nowadays there are just ruins, because in 1502 Guidobaldo da Montefeltro (son of Federico da Montefeltro), to prevent the fortress from falling into the hands of Cesare Borgia, ordered its demolition. The 336 CAI track goes by it.
I admire the view for a little while and… look at the clock! It is already time to go back, but with the promise to come back and experience Fossombrone a little more!
If you are near Fossombrone on May, 13th you shouldn’t definitely miss the arrival of Stage 8 of Giro d’Italia!
0 Comments