Saturday 23rd April

We are sticking to our guns to see as much of this part of Le Marche as possible and with only a week to go, we put Corinaldo and environs and the "Museo dei Bronzi Dorati e Della Citta di Pergola" - The Museum of the Golden Bronzes and of the Town of Pergola ( I reckon it loses something when translated into English. The Italian version has so much more feeling and romance in it )  into today's challenge.
Corinaldo is an easy 45 minutes drive from Cagli through relatively flat farming country and the odd castle and tower in the hills surrounding the road, but never without some building and farm house along the roadside. The old town Corinaldo is completely surrounded by a high wall with strategically placed towers around its perimeter. The wall is 912 meters long and a  height of 18 meters. They must have been hellishly scared back in 1367, to which the wall dates back to, of being being invaded by whoever who could high jump or pole vault 17 meters.
It is again a beautifull city and well preserved.
The "Museo etc" in Pergola is breathtaking. There exists many paintings from the 16th and 17th Centuries but the attraction is the  Golden Bronzes found buried in a field outside of Pergola in 1946 and which date back to the 1st Century BC. It took from discovery to permanent display some 40 years to restore the pieces found. . Simply breathtaking and a visit here should be on every Italian tourist's list of must do's.

18 Meter high Corinaldo wall and tower from outside the town

On top of a Corinaldo Tower

 View from Bottom of a Corinaldo Tower

Looking down the "La Piaggia" Steps

A garden and street scene off  La Piagga Steps

View Up La Piaggia steps

A covered walkway around the Corinaldo wall

View of Corinaldo through light rain

The Golden Bronzes of Pergola 

Friday 22nd April - Good Friday

We were surprised when we went out this afternoon to see shops and restaurants open for business on Good Friday. Even the postman was roaring through the countryside.
We have booked into a restaurant for dinner tonight in Cagli at 8 pm and after we will be watching the  " Processione di Christo Morto " which gets underway between 9 and 9.30 pm through the old town of Cagli and goes for about 2 hours.
Cont'd.
Dinner was great in a wonderfully friendly restaurant with great food and red wine and we finished just in time at about 9.20pm to hear the band announcing the movement of the "Processione" outside. It was actually moving down some streets from the Piazza Matteotti where Ann and I had strategically positioned ourselves to witness this Processione and it didn't get to us for about another 20-30 minutes during which  Ann had time to enjoy a gelatti and the Piazza had time to fill to capacity. However we manged to get front row positions as it moved into the Piazza. It is quite a moving thing and people were crying and  being very reverent. Some even stopped smoking.

Ann's Gelatti

The "Processione"

The "Processione "

The "Processione"

The "Christo Morto" Being carried in the "Processione"

Thusday 21st April

We are located just outside of the medieval town of Cagli in the northern most province of Pesaro e Urbino ( La Provincia Bella) in the region of Le Marche. There are a total of 5 provinces in the Marche and there is no way we will be able to attempt to explore all 5 of them unless we stay another month or two.
So while we are here we are going to give it a red hot go at exploring this one.
Therefore today we headed out again this time into the western areas of Piobbico and Apecchio, both small towns with their individual charms and Apecchio's best cappuccino and pastries in the Marche, through some magnificent scenery, forestry areas, extremely narrow roads with big drop offs and no way two cars could pass each other without one pulling over somewhere to let the other through.
Then out of the mountains passing through valleys and  Sant. Angelo in Vado to Urbania - another one of those medieval towns with unique features. An important one for this town was it was flat - not a steep street to be found and therefore easy to explore.
We found streets with portico covered footpaths,  flower bedecked houses in narrow lanes, majolica, unlike that of  Deruta but with more of a religous theme, the incredible Ducal Palace and the home of Befana, the witch who comes out of the bell towers between the 2nd and 5th January to hand out sweets to the children and the Mummies in the Church of the Dead, and some of the most friendly people you could possibly meet. Urbania was a delight to visit.
From here it was on to Fossombrone where a Roman bridge is still in operation for today's traffic, Sant Ippolito, another medieval town where they have undertaken stone carving for centuries.
Then it was back to Cagli, stock up on provisions for Easter and light the fire before dinner.
It's important to know that to do all of this we are not travelling vast distances - perhaps 100 to 150 kms per day maximum but we never travel without seeing a town, house, a tower on a hill, a castle up there or a church or monastory. There is always a something in sight.
The autostradas don't bother with going up and around mountains or hills though, (that's left for the small country roads), they go straight through them via tunnels. We have been through numerous tunnels from less than 100 meteres long to one which was 4.5 kms long. They are normally two lanes in either direction and the two directions are joined by a series of crossovers. Unlike those in Sydney and Melbourne where you can get stuck in a tunnel if there is an accident. Here you cross over to the other tunnel and drive out.

Travelling a country road

The Barco - an imposing former hunting villa 1 km outside Urbania

A portico lined street in Urbania

The imposing Ducal Palace, now museum and library

Roman Bridge in Fossombrone



Wednesday 20th april

Le Marche is now emerging from the the third week of spring and and the season is now really catching on - things are starting to bloom and come alive. We are seeing fields starting to really green up and flowers starting to blossom. We are hearing lots of bird life and in the mountains we hear the cuckoo everywhere.
So today was nature day and into the heights of Mt. Catria we set forth. Mt Catria is south of where we are staying and we can see it quite clearly from here.
There is still some snow on the peak at 1700 meters and below so we weren't going that high. We got to 1200 meters where the road started to deteriorate to the extent I wasn't prepared to risk the low profile, soft walled Michelin tyres on the Citroen.
But fortunately at this height the wildflowers were coming into bloom and we were able to capture a lot on the camera ( you don't say film anymore). What a sight it will be in a month's time when they are all out.
On the way up we saw what we thought was the Golden Eagle soaring and then later just off the side of the road on the ground. Unfortunately our sighting was not of the Golden Eagle but of some lesser smaller species but still  gold in colour.
After many wildflower photo stops on our way down the mountain we moved onto Frontone for lunch but found a little ristorante to ourselves in the smallest of villages called Foce and had bruschetta - wonderful. We saw the notice pegged on the wall for "Menu di Pasquale" ( Easter Menu) and asked whether there was room for us and yes, so we booked in for lunch on Easter Sunday.  This should be interesting, perhaps with us having Easter Lunch with all of the locals from the village.
We then moved on to the "Eremo di Fonte Avellana" (Monastory of the Fountain and Hazel Nut ) an original 10th Century Monastory still operating but with a heap of history and tales to tell.
What a mixed day it's been  - set out to do the nature thing and ended back in the 10th Century - but that's Italy I guess.

Wildflowers on Mt. Catria

Wildlower on Mt. Catria

Wild Hellibores on Mt Catria

View from Mt Catria at 1200 meters

A Street Scene in Foce

The original 10th CenturyChurch in "Eremo di Fonte Avellana" 



Tuesday 19th April

The eastern seaboard of Italy, the Adriatic Coast, is only 50kms or so from Cagli. So we headed off today to Fano on the coast to see what attracts hoardes of Europeans to this part of the world each year. We found Fano but could not find the sea.
One of the problems I have encountered while driving in Italy is "which way am I heading, east, north or whatever"? As well as sitting in the left hand driver's seat and driving on the right hand side of the road, the sun at late morning is in the south - not the north as I'm used to. So when I think I'm heading east (to the sea), I'm actually heading away from it when I use all my instinctive driving skills.
So we headed out of Fano to the south, this time using Ann's navigating skills and headed towards Senigallia and  found the coast road and the sea at Torrette.
The sea is more like Port Phillip, no waves but the beach is protected by a series of breakwaters running parallel to the beach with breaks in the wall to allow small boats through from the beach. The sand is a somewhat brown colour and to us not very inviting. On the western side of the beachfront road are numerous camp grounds with vans already packed in ready for the summer.
We had a delightful seafood lunch in a little restaurant alongside the Senigallia "marina" and fishing wharf.
Continuing south along the coast we bypassed Ancona, the capital of Le Marche and ferry departure point for Croatia, Turkey, Cyprus and Greece and headed for Portonovo, a secreted away tourist resort with a fantastic coastline.
From above Portonovo presents as pristine white sandy beaches with a small village reaching to the sand. The white sand is actually rounded white pebbles and the village buildings are restaurants which appear to be put together rather awkwardly and little changing boxes. Not very attractive on the ground.
This part of the Adriatic Coast is not on our recommended must visit places.

The beach at Torrette

Breakwater and gaps at Torrette

Marina at Senigallia

Mussel boats at rest in Senigallia

Portonovo from the road above

Monday 18th April

Although Cagli, in Le Marche is fairly close to the border with Umbria the countryside and landscape are completely different. Le Marche is on the Eastern side of the Apennine Mountains, and Umbria is to the west.
Here in Le Marche spring has sprung and the trees all have their leaves, the fields look greener and lush and while Umbria was greening and leaves appearing it was not to the same extent that Le Marche has. We put it down to the Apennines and the production of slightly different climate zones. That's our theory anyway.
We struck out today to see more of this magnificent countryside and its many vistas. The vista changes within a few kilometers from gently rolling hills and plains to magnificent soaring mountains, covered in a vast array of softwood trees of differing hues of green to bare vertical rock as if the mountainside slid off  some time in the past.
We drove through many and visited some of  the most enchanting towns that you can imagine.

• Genga, a small medieval town perched high on a hill in the upper Esino Valley and laying fame to producing Pope Leo X11 (1823-1829) - amongst other things.
• Fabriano which was at the forefront of paper making in Europe in the 13th Century. We visited the paper museum and this was both intriguing and facsinating. This was where we had lunch in a pizzeria of the the best pizza I've had. Eat your heart out Pizza Hut.
• Grotti di Frasassi, caves which are reputed to be the grandest in Europe and only discovered in 1975. The location they are in is very rugged, steep sided and mountainous country and no wonder they lay hidden for so long. We did not visit them as the walking and climbing precluded us.
• We passed through and by places like Pergola, Sassoferrato, Croce, Arcevia and Palazzo. Palazzo is an unbelievable sight as you wind your way throgh the mountains. It looks like a giant tiered wedding cake with what looks like houses built on top of each other. Unfortunately the best photography spots were not accessible or masked by trees.
• We drove partly on the Via Flaminia, the road built by the Romans before Christ to open up the trading routes through central Italy. Now that's a thrill to drive the same road that the legions walked and rode.    

Le Marche Countryside View

Another Le Marche View

More Le Marche



13th Century "paper pulp maker" in Fabriano Museum

 A street scene in Fabriano showing Piazza del Comune
 flanked by the Gothic Palazzo del Podesta

Thee entrance gate to Genga

A friend made in Genga

The "Wedding Cake" Town - Palazzo





Sunday 17th April

Today was exploring Cagli, visiting the local Sunday Market and some of the nearby small villages and stocking up on provisions like fromaggio, salumi, birra and vino rosso.
After yesterday's history lesson, I am restricting this post to photos of today's sights.
Please enjoy like we did.

(I've just noticed that if you click on the photos they expand.)

Torre Martiniana o Torrione 1481 AD

Bob centre stage at the Teatro Comunale

Opera boxes in Teatro Comunale

Ann in an Opera Box box in the Teatro Comunale

Inside Chiesa (Church) di S. Giuseppe 1072 AD

View from Castello Frontone (Frontone, a small town out of Cagli )

Castello Frontone

Ann with our Citroen C4

Saturday 16th April

Moving day today, across the regional border from Umbria to Le Marche to Cagli, only about 75 kms but we diverted a bit through some small towns like Branca, Gubbio and Scheggia and added 20 or 30 kms but worth every bit.
We  are staying now in "La Pieve", a converted  chapel at San Christoforo, the former heart of a 13th century rural parish, about 5 kms out of Cagli.
Cagli is one of Italy's best kept secrets and we do not expect to run into many foreign tourists when we get out and about. However, this part of Italy is steeped in history and although the following may be a bit dry, but you can't come to a place like this in the world without knowing something of what went on in the past.
So here is a little something I lifted from "Commune di Cagli - Visitors Guide".

"Cagli's venerable history goes back to pre-Roman times when it was known as Cale. Notable archeological finds have shown that the Umbri, Etruscans and Celtic Galli Senoni all passed through before ancient Rome conquered the area in 295 BC at the battle of Sentino.
References to Cale Vicus and Mutatio ad Cale from ancient Roman sources bear witness to Cagli's establishment as a growing centre in the wake of the construction of the Via Flaminia, one of Rome's earliest and most important roads.
Already by the 4thC Cagli was a bishopric under Greciano who took part in the Council of Rimini in 359. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the town fell first to the Goths then to the Lombards. As a strategic point in the corridor still under Byzantine influence, it was fought over for years by Byzantium and Lombards. The local population menwhile took refuge in the hill above the Via Flaminia known as the Bandirola; here they founded the Medieval city and enclosed it with sturdy walls.
At the close of the 12thC the town gained its status as a comune thanks to a pact between the Church and local nobility. The warring between Guelfs and Ghibellines that swept central Italy in Medieval times did not spare Cagli and in 1287, during a heated confrontation between the two factions, it was destroyed by fire.
Two years later in 1289, under orders of Pope Nicholas IV, it was re-sited and rebuilt on classical lines on the plain below where it stands today.
After a chequered history, the town came into the hands of the Dukes of Montefeltro in Urbino around 1376. In the course of the 16thC it then passed to the Della Rovere family. It remained with them until 1631 when it became part of the Papal States where it stayed until the Unification of Italy in 1860."

That should have got you in the mood for more exploration of  Le Marche in the next two weeks.

A view looking down on the Commune of Cagli

Exterior La Pieve

View from La Pieve Porch over Vineyard and to the hills

Inside La Pieve