Unusual and wonderful for its diversity, this region of central Italy, with its harmonious and winding shape, shows its uniqueness on all of its sides: cliffs and caves on unforgettable beaches, hills that envelop history, tradition and art, and mountains with well-equipped facilities for ski lovers.
The territory is mainly made of hills and mountains and encloses the Adriatic side of the Umbria-Marche Appennine, yet has low and sandy beaches. For example, the long golden and fine sandy beach surrounded by crystal-clear water of Senigallia, which offers lidos and pleasant walks by the shore, especially at sunset.
Some other beautiful sea resorts are Gabicce mare, Pesaro, Fano, Civitanova Marche and San Benedetto del Tronto, the perfect places for those who want to relax and find relief in one of the many lidos that have been fashionable since the nineteenth century for the upper-class. For those who love extreme nature, on the other hand, the Conero riviera offers amazing views and wild strips of land, sometimes reachable only by sea or through narrow paths carved out of the green Mediterranean scrub.
The nature of Marche is protected in the National and regional parks of the area, some WWF reserves; the Monti Sibillini and the Monti della Laga National Parks are a peerless spectacle for trekking enthusiasts. You cannot miss the Frasassi Caves, a destination for tourists coming from all over Europe and a very interesting site for speleologists because of the karst phenomena that originated these splendid caves, some of them occupied by man since prehistory.
The countless orchards and vineyards of the hills of Piceno and of Esino Valley surround ancient and warm farmhouses where you can discover the simple taste of genuine food. Manor houses and old farms are now used as holiday farms and still tell the history of the past.
The provinces of the region are: Ancona (regional capital), Ascoli Piceno, Fermo, Macerata, Pesaro and Urbino.
This region evokes a great past in its cities-of-art, enchanting piazzas and medieval towns where time seems to stand still, among old roads and elegant buildings.
Ascoli Piceno is one of the main monumental cities in Italy, with its old medieval town center and Piazza del Popolo, adorned by arched open galleries, and the Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo, a stately building with an embattled tower. In this town you can visit different workshops, like those of violin-makers, which attest the creativity and craftsmanship of the inhabitants of Ascoli. On the first Sunday of August, the streets of the town act as a background to the memorable “Quintana”, a medieval jousting tournament on horseback at the Joust of the Saracen.
Ancona, an old port junction known as the “door to the East”, guards valuable monuments and a warm beach. The Cathedral of San Ciriaco rises on the area of an ancient Greek acropolis and is considered as one of the most interesting medieval churches in Marche.
The region of Marche, with the old town of Urbino, is among Unesco World Heritage Sites; its Palazzo Ducale represents an interesting architectural and artistic example of the Italian Renaissance.
Another town to visit it Gradara with its fortress, a magnificent example of medieval military architecture and the place where, according to tradition, Paolo and Francesca kissed, as written in the fifth canto of Dante’s Inferno.
For religious tourism, the sanctuary of Mariano di Loreto is an important stop, as it is considered one of the major places for pilgrimage in the Catholic world.
For those who love classical music, Pesaro offers two weeks of full immersion into the notes of Gioacchino Rossini, the popular composer of Pesaro; the Rossini Opera Festival has become an unmissable appointment for classical music lovers from all over the world, with the stunning background of a town which does not only offer cultural attractions.
If you love candies and chocolates, the best thing to do is going to Fano during the period of Carnival. The ancient Carnival of Fano has at least three distinguishing features: the throwing of sweets to the crowd from the allegorical cars, the typical “vulon”, a mask that caricatures the most well-known personalities of the town, and the “musica Arabica”, a music band whose instruments are cans, pots and jugs.
The sea and the mountains of this region are a perfect combination for those who love to move freely and plunge into the limpid waters of the sea and into the green vegetation of the parks. These very parks occupy a good part of the regional surface and are considered as protected areas.
Marche, with the Monti Sibillini National Park, the Gran Sasso and the Monti della Laga National Parks, regional parks and natural reserves, offers astonishing landscapes with interesting flora and fauna.
Here you can enjoy birdwatching to sight golden eagles, peregrine falcons and eagle owls, trekking enthusiasts can take long walks among the woods and forest, but it is also possible to go horse-riding, canoeing and mountain biking. You can also cycle along pleasant routes to discover natural, historical and artistic beauties, as well as the typical food specialties of the region.
To those who enjoy skiing, snowboarding and cross-country skiing, the mountains of the Apennine offer more than nine ski resorts, snow parks and cross-country tracks of different length and difficulty; also, the Ice Palace of Ussita ensures amazing experiences to ice-skaters.
You cannot miss a trip to the Conero, the wonderful protected promontory in the homonymous regional Park that stretches to the south of the town. The Conero, with Portonovo, Stirolo and Numana, is the riviera of the inhabitants of Ancona; its high and indented coast and its splendid sea make it one of the most charming sea resorts on the Italian coasts. The seabed facing the Conero, rocky with some sandy areas, is rich in animal and vegetable species and is the ideal destination for scuba-divers.
Again in Ancona, during the first ten days of May, the whole town celebrates the Fair of St. Ciriaco, the Patron saint of the town. For four days, the town is happily invaded by thousands of stalls, crafts markets, typical food stands, street artists and extemporary “en plein air” painters.
Music lovers will enjoy AnconaJazz, the main festival in Marche with International music stars, dedicated to this successful music genre.
The food in Marche is a blend of the flavors and tastes of the whole region, with their specific features. The typical “roughness” of the hinterland can be tasted with meat dishes like roasted suckling-pig and marinated lamb, and dishes with mushrooms and truffles, like those of Acqualagna and Sant’Agata Feltria. Among the first courses we find tagliatelle, strozzapreti and the traditional vincisgrassi, the first type of lasagna in the whole Italian peninsula.
The fresh and sweet flavor of the sea can be tasted with several fish dishes, first of all the well-known brodetto, a fish soup with more than 14 fish species; this soup is enhanced by tomatoes in the area of Pesaro and Ancona, and by saffron in the area of Ascoli.
The typical dish of Ascoli is “ascolana” mixed fry: stuffed olives, cream, zucchini, artichokes and lamb chops. The most famous desserts are ciambellotto con i funghetti all’anice (a ring-shaped cake with anise), cicerchiata (deep fried dough with honey), and fried ravioli stuffed with chestnuts, cream and ricotta cheese.
Some other noteworthy products are the pecorino of Talamello wrapped in walnut leaves and ripened in tuff caves, ham, sausages made from the loin of pork, and pork-neck salami.
Food is accompanied by the wines of Ascoli Piceno: the white Falerio dei Colli Ascolani, the red Rosso Piceno and Rosso Piceno Superiore, and finally the sweet wine, stored in wooden casks, with a Mediterranean hint of anisette.
