Newspaper articles about Le Marche

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Italy Culture & Travel Examiner: Inside Urbino's frigid walls

Inside Urbino's frigid walls

December 25, 3:38 PM
by Lucia Mauro, Italy Culture & Travel Examiner
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Duke Federico.
(Average read time: 4 minutes)

In Corners of Urbino, late Italian author Paolo Volponi described a bizarre skybound attack. At the crack of dawn in this substantive early-Renaissance city, a strange avian battle ensues in the skies above the Palazzo Ducale (Ducal Palace). Crows and pigeons fling themselves from the ramparts of this sprawling castle and fight each other in mid-air. These are vicious ritualized encounters that often send the loser crashing through the arcades or sliding down the roof's gutters.

Urbino's Palazzo Ducale.

History quite literally hovers over this city, which conjures up images of knights and bishops from a living chessboard. Perhaps these winged warriors, eager to begin each day engaged in a brutal airborne sparring match, are the spirits of the Guelphs and Ghibellines - the famed medieval factions at war in the Italian city-states during Dante Alighieri's time.

Urbino's Church of San Domenico.

When my husband Joe and I arrived in Urbino at the start of an exceptionally frigid Italian winter, we felt the weight of the 15th century on our consciences - a weight soon made physically heavier when huge clumps of snow dropped from the sky as if out of a suspended trap door that releases powdery crystals on stage during a Christmas pageant.

We had barely escaped the lashing rains of Rimini and fought heavy winds during our brisk but sunny car ride around the winding green hills and orange-brown cottages of the Marche region -- mirroring the mathematically precise landscape paintings of Piero della Francesca -- before entering the clustered castles and churches of Urbino. But since we were staying at Hotel and Residence Dei Duchi (with a convenient indoor garage), on the outskirts of the walled city, Joe and I decided to thaw out before venturing into the historic center - a stroller's paradise.


Our room had a terrace that overlooked those spectacular burnt-Siena hills and spinach-green poplar trees. I was so moved by the scenery, now bathed in sunlight, I flung open the balcony doors only to be met with a blast of cold air that almost turned me into an ice cube. Temperatures now hovered around 20 degrees fahrenheit - extreme for Central Italy. Worse, Joe and I did not bring our winter coats. So every time we ventured out, we wrapped ourselves in layers of sweaters and jackets. Finally, at a winter sportswear store near the Palazzo Ducale, we bought warm, water-resistant fleece jackets.


Urbino is a pedestrian-friendly city. Visitors park in a massive lot before entering the centro storico through an archway, up steep steps or by elevator.


At night, we were grateful to be wrapped in our new coats as the temperatures plummeted to almost zero. No one could be found on Urbino's deserted cobblestone streets. All we longed for was a hearty meal by a warm fire. We found it at Ristorante Urbino Vecchia, decorated with walnut-wood furnishings and delicate glass-and-gold light fixtures in the shape of star bursts.


The Victor Buono-esque owner recommended all dishes with the regional specialty: truffles - from risotto to taglioni. Then he boasted of the fine wood finishes of all his tables and plopped down a gorgeous tome chronicling the lavish Baroque theaters that dot the Le Marche landscape around Urbino. He tossed in tidbits of the city's legendary Medieval and Renaissance history and the powerful Montefeltro name while serving us grilled lamb and sausage and generously filling our glasses with Sangiovese wine.


We were now fortified for our chilly trek back to the parking lot.


The next morning, exceptionally sunny skies fooled us. Sub-zero temperatures made us feel like we were descending deeper into Dante's Inferno. The temperatures after all supposedly get colder, not hotter, in the lowest regions of hell. That didn't stop us from heading directly to the Palazzo Ducale, built for Duke Federico da Montefeltro, ruler of Urbino between 1444 and 1482. As Joe and I warmed our frozen hands over glasses of latte macchiato at a bar, we noticed Paolo Volponi's bellicose birds circling above the Palazzo Ducale. I feared they might start boxing in the air. Instead they just flew around and shrieked loudly.


We stopped briefly in the 15th century Church of San Domenico, with its worn travertine façade and azure-frieze portal copy of the Madonna and Child by Lucca della Robbia. (The original hangs in the Palazzo Ducale.) The façade frames an Egyptian obelisk with intricate calligraphy.


A few steps away stands the mesmerizing rough-hewn Palazzo Ducale, the humanistic heart and soul of Urbino. Its turrets kindle images of damsels in distress (scarves billowing from their cone-shaped headdresses as they wait for their mesh-covered knights). The palace is really a miniature city that houses a library and the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, which contains one of the most substantial collections of Renaissance art in the world. It exemplifies some of the most grandiose and geometrically brilliant early-Renaissance architecture. A tribute to Duke Federico -- a man of arts and a humanist, as well as a soldier -- Palazzo Ducale is a monument to the high artistic and intellectual ideals of the Renaissance.


In the courtyard, we joined an Italian tour group led by a warmhearted scholarly young man, who enthused about every fresco, furnishing and the adventurous life of Duke Federico - best known as the hook-nosed man in profile, dressed in red, in the portrait by Piero della Francesca that hangs in Florence's Uffizi Gallery. In fact, Federico was always painted in left profile after a battle wound deeply scarred the right side of his face and cost him his right eye.


This was one of the most spectacular castles we've ever visited. It consists of multiple levels, with each floor a vibrant slice of Renaissance splendor. Raphael lived in Urbino, and entire rooms are devoted to his paintings -- most notably the tranquil La Muta, or The Silent Woman. Visitors have the rare chance to view Piero della Francesca's mysteriously angled The Flagellation of Christ, with its three seemingly incongruous Oriental counselors in the foreground.


A spiral staircase leads to the Duke's apartments, chapels, throne room, music salon, more galleries and the shimmering Room of Angels. Nearly all the windows face panoramic views of the boldly sloping Urbino landscape and Albornoz Fortress. There's also a whole other world underground - one of the most extraordinary examples of hydraulic engineering in the 15th century. The castle's subterranean basins were used for food storage and connected to an intricate plumbing and sewage system. This tour provided a grand glimpse into a grand, harsh life.


It also symbolized the brutal yet sublime evolution of this city. With the birth of the Papal State in the eighth century, Urbino found itself caught up in the events of ecclesiastical feudalism, which gradually led to municipal forms of government. From this political climate, the Ghibelline character of the city developed and gained credit thanks to the efforts of Antonio da Montefeltro who, in 1155, is said to have put down a revolt against Frederick Barbarossa, thus earning himself the titles of Count and Imperial Vicar of Urbino.


From that moment on, the history of the city was indissolubly tied to that of the Montefeltro family, who were of Germanic origin and descendants of the Counts of Carpegna. Dante mentions Guido the Elder, a fiery Ghibelline from the Montefeltro clan, in Canto XXVII of his Inferno in The Divine Comedy. Guido is among the fraudulent advisors who were transformed into a flickering flame.


Duke Federico, who ushered in Urbino's golden age of art and letters, remains the most illustrious descendant of the Montefeltro line - and his presence is felt at every architecturally magnificent turn. He commissioned construction of the Cathedral in 1476, but it took several centuries to complete and experienced various collapses. Today its white Neoclassical façade stands out in sharp contrast against Urbino's fairytale turrets and wrought-iron gates.


Once we left the palace, our teeth began to chatter but the sky remained a stunning cloudless turquoise blue. We made a stop at the birth home of artist Raphael Sanzio, but, ironically, none of his original work hangs here. Yet it's important to note that Raphael's father, Giovanni Santi, was a successful and respected artist who provided his son with his earliest training.


Since it was the Christmas season, we visited Federico Brandani' s life-size and life-like Nativity Scene set deep inside a grotto within the elegant Renaissance church, Oratorio di San Giuseppe. More pivotal works of art and architecture can be found farther out at the Church of San Bernardino, where Duke Federico and his royal kin have been laid to rest in heraldic style.


After our stay in Urbino, Joe and I planned to continue our drive South along the Adriatic Coast. So we geared up by taking a three-hour lunch at a rustic trattoria. The truth is we tried our hardest to avoid venturing out into the cold. So we dined by the roaring fire on crostini with duck, black olive and hazelnut tapenade; soup with ceci and pasta; spaghetti and truffles; and rabbit slathered in wild mushrooms, sage and fennel. We felt as if our entire world was contained inside this cozy cantina.


Then reality hit us hard. We stepped outside and right into a blizzard. Fierce black clouds and a heavy mist had blotted out the turquoise sky. Giant snowflakes swirled around us as the wind pushed us toward a pointy crag, where we hopped on a creaky elevator that deposited us in the slushy parking lot.


As we pulled out onto Urbino's slippery winding main road, a few crows stood stoically atop Palazzo Ducale's elegant slender turrets. Those hearty birds looked poised for battle. But this time, like us, they would have to face their worse nemesis: the elements.


END

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Not newspaper but an interesting article anyway. We were in the area when they were filming one of these shows and I sure this will bring in a few more buyers

A Home In Italy, A Dream Also For The Reality Shows!
Posted by admin
February 9, 2009

All televisions from all over the world have been broadcasting reality shows of all types, shapes and contents, showing how anonymous singers would start a successful career, or how celebrities would survive in a tropical island or simply living in a luxurious flat with all sort of comforts doing just nothing until people vote you out.

But lately seems that some TV channels, especially from Northern Europe, have started to be attracted by the Italian life style and want to see how some people from their country would cope with it.

Everything started in Netherlands, where the producers of KRO, one of the main TV channel of the country, choose central Italy, in the stunning region of Le Marche, more precisely in the town of Piticchio, a peculiar small village with a population of 720 people, as a set of a new reality show.

Four Dutch couples left their home, family, job and friends behind to take part of the “De Italiansee Droom”, so it is called the reality show, which means “The Italian Dream”. The TV channel bought a house to be restored in the centre of Piticchio and the participants had to restore it and convert it in a nice and cozy Bed & Breakfast. The property consists of a three storey house of 120 square meters each floor plus a basement, and an annex, a former jeans factory, for a total property surface of 1000 square meters.

Just to give you an idea of the amount of restoration work to do, the property before restoration had one single bathroom for the whole house and after restoration the B&B had to have 6 bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom.

Obviously, that was the “easiest” part of the game as they also had to learn all the Italian life style aspects: they had to learn the Italian language, how to cook Italian dishes and, last but not least, how to restore a typical Italian home. To do so the producers choose three locals, an Italian teacher, a chef and an architect, to teach them how to accomplish the tasks and to judge the results.

After the first five weeks the couple with the lowest score would leave the reality show, after other five weeks the other couple with the lowest score would leave the game. Eventually the winner between the two remaining couples would literally win the whole B&B.

The reality show had such a great success that the format was taken also by a Belgian channel which duplicated the reality in another town in Le Marche, the village of Montelparo, and also a Danish channel has commissioned The Italian Dream and four Danish couples have already reached Italy, although the program will be on air this coming spring. There are rumors that also a British channel is interested in the format.

The stunning scenario of central Italy and the charm of the Italian life style that the reality show offered to its audience have also given a further boost to the already high interest for Italian homes for sale from Belgian and Dutch investors with a strong increase in property demand in the whole Italy, particularly in the region of Le Marche where the reality shows took place.

Author Bio: Simone Rossi works for the Italian property portal Property in Italy: Italian homes for sale - Gate-Away.com. Gate-away.com is the leading property portal specialized in the promotion of Italian homes for sale to foreign investors.

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Flashes of high style in Italy's small towns - International Herald Tribune


By J.J. Martin
Friday, February 27, 2009

PESARO, Italy: In this small town on Italy's Adriatic coast, the owner of the Ratti boutique is thumbing through the freshly minted Balmains and Balenciagas with a hand that has felt its fair share of crepe de chine.

"Bring this to Giovanna's mother!" Silvana Ratti happily exclaims, plucking a thigh-grazing Marchesa chiffon number off the racks. An obliging saleswoman, one of the 78 immaculately groomed who live to serve on Ratti's gilded floors, trots off with the costly confection in search of someone's mother.

Although it boasts prime beachfront real estate, Pesaro has never been one of Italy's great travel destinations. It does not offer the booming nightlife of Rimini. It does not have the posh hotels and crystal waters of Portofino. The town, with its 80,000 inhabitants, is a classic example of the Italian province. But a compelling reason to swing by - aside from the exceptional homemade piadina lathered with squaquerone cheese - is Ratti, one of the best shopping destinations in Italy.

And Ratti is not the only fabulous retail kingdom to flourish in the middle of nowhere. In fact, there is a trove of shopping jewels to be unearthed throughout Italy's little-known provinces.

Over the hills lined with cypress trees and up a cobblestone street in Arezzo is Sugar, a boutique so hip that even the actress Trudie Styler regularly visits from her nearby Tuscan villa. In Brescia, an extremely wealthy but tiny town in northern Italy, fashion-forward Penelope and Rail Young are as well stocked as the Dover Street Market in London and the Corso Como in Milan.

In Pesaro, Ratti was founded as a small boutique in 1946, opened by Silvana's parents, Pietro and Licia (who still makes daily appearances in her impeccable Chanel suits). Now the shop covers almost an entire block.

"I've been coming to Ratti for as long as I can remember," says Diego Della Valle, chairman of Tod's Group, who as a child would accompany his mother on shopping excursions from their home in Cassette d'Ete, more than an hour away.

Today, Chanel, Gucci, Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana and Hermès are contained in exquisitely maintained shops within Ratti's walls, while fresh picks from Lanvin and Moncler, selected by Silvana's daughter Matilde, appeal to a younger generation.

"Silvana makes Italy move," said the Rome-based jewelry designer Lucia Odescalchi, who came to the store in February for the exclusive debut of Roger Vivier's Cut Up Bag.

"We all have houses outside of Pesaro, but we always come back here to shop," agreed another guest, dangling an oyster-colored Kelly bag on her arm. "In fact, there is a better selection of product here than at the Hermès store in Milan."

Why these major stores in such minor surroundings? Part of it has to do with the country's practically state-issued birthright to looking good.

"In Italy, there is a very strong focus on aesthetics," says Mario Dell'Oglio, who runs Dell'Oglio, a luxury boutique in Palermo that has been in his family since 1890. "There's a huge importance on the external, on presenting yourself well, the 'bella figura,"' he said. Putting on a "good face" is as important for the old aristocracy circling palazzos in Rome and Palermo as it is for the regular folks mingling on a provincial piazza.

Of course high-end luxury products require cash, which is not in short supply in many of these tiny towns. "Le Marche is very rich," says Ratti of Italy's central region, where Pesaro is. "It's filled with great families, big companies and a lot of money."

And stores like Ratti and Sugar are experts at cultivating relationships with those very deep pockets. Paola Tittarelli, the distinguished supporter of Pesaro's Rossini Opera Festival, has homes in Rome, Cortina and Ancona, but has been a loyal Ratti client for more than 50 years.

At the Vivier event, Tittarelli had matched her Easter egg-size emeralds with a Ratti-purchased Chanel jacket that looked dipped in silver sequins. Her husband, Rolando, was head to toe in custom-made pieces created in Ratti's tailoring atelier.

"Our buy is very personal," explains Ratti, "and people say that our selection is different from the monobrands."

Luxury lords like Diego Della Valle are impressed. "It's an extremely professional endeavor," says Della Valle. "The quality, attention, choice of product and care for clients is all rather extraordinary."

"They choose very well," agreed Inès de la Fressange, the former model now brand ambassador for Roger Vivier. "It's like a warranty, the Ratti warranty."

Aside from the razor sharp selections, these stores' unique environments serve as a visual paradise and emotional retreat. In Arezzo, Sugar's 12 windows are a rotating canvas of creativity inspired by design trends and modern art exhibitions. "For me it's a business card," says Beppe Angiolini, the owner. "I want people to be struck by the impact."

And once inside, customers are meant to be hypnotized by the pampering service. "In a shop like Ratti, I'm amazed," says Mario d'Urso, a distinguished Roman aristocrat. "Everyone is happy to see you. You're taken care of. I'm all for regional provinces!"

"You spend, and they spoil," agrees Luisa Orciani, wife of the belt entrepreneur Claudio Orciani, who enjoys the entourage that follows her around while shopping. A Ratti regular, Orciani had already completed her pre-collection sweep in mid January. "I bought many nice pieces from Missioni and Christian Dior. I adore Dior."

In today's retail climate, that kind of quick sale of full-priced merchandise is manna from heaven. As they tell it, these provincial stores are faring the economic downturn better than some of the mono-brand stores in big cities. "Our clients all buy early," says Ratti, "so we don't need to do the big sales like the mono-brands."

Like Ratti, Sugar has never publicized a single sale, not even this winter when department stores in New York had signs for 60 percent off before Christmas. Special discounts are reserved for the best clients - at the end of season only, and very discreetly.

"I'm not a snob," says Angiolini, "but it's ugly for my customers to see something they have bought to be on sale a month later. They would be very disappointed."
Correction:
Notes:
International Herald Tribune Copyright © 2009 The International Herald Tribune | International Herald Tribune - World News, Analysis, and Global Opinions

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The Cove Festival of Petritoli
By Mariano Pallottini



It is a festival of rural tradition, which originated from the desire to offer a tribute of grain to Our Lady Mother Mary to thank for the good harvest obtained. The festivities begin on Saturday to develop throughout the day of Sunday: parade of "canestrelli" sound of accordions, singing the starling, and finally parade of floats through the streets of the country. The chariots made with sheaves of grain, shall be arranged by the various districts with themes inspired by the whole history of the grain, from sowing to baking bread. For several years, one of these wagons will be set up by foreigners residing in the territory. British citizens in general, much like those participating in the festive atmosphere and be protagonists. All the streets are decorated with bunches of wheat. During the festivities you can enjoy typical cuisine of the local tradition.

Petritoli is a medieval village perched on a hilltop 358 metres above sea level in the Ascoli Piceno province of Le Marche in central Italy between the Adriatic Sea and the Appenine mountain chain.

The village, its 2 hamlets Moregnano and Valmir, and the surrounding countryside have a population of 2500. It is a largely self-sufficient village with a bank, post-office, grocery stores, mini-markets, butchers, bakers, fresh pasta shop, hardware store, electrical store, florists, gift-shops, hairdressers, beauticians, G.P's, library, school, newsagents, petrol station, 3 bars, 4 restaurants, pizza take-away, cottage hospital, museum, numerous artists and artisans, and a small but beautiful theatre. The delightful historical centre of Petritoli is entered through a quite stunning gateway comprising of two round 15th century towers connected by a series of three 19th century neogothic arches. The village follows the typical pattern of this region with the main square, Piazza Rocca, at the top housing the 40 metre high clock tower (1831) and the oldest properties (the original monastic centre), and the rest of the yellow brick village winding down below against the rock face.

For those wishing to plan their holiday in the territory of Petritoli suggest some solutions to total satisfaction.

Il Biologico di Livia - Bed and Breakfast and certified organic farm in Petritoli

Uliveto Casa Vacanze Marche - is a rental Villa in Campofilone.

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Villa San Ginesio Country House for sale via Casa Travella. | The Risk Collective - for women who want to change their life...

David and Pam Bates.

Do you fancy living the good life in the Italian sunshine, among the olive groves in the beautiful Le Marche district? David and Pam Bates are selling the hotel business they built from scratch from an old abandoned farmhouse…

Up for a challenge and looking for a more exciting lifestyle, David and Pam Bates moved to Italy from Chandlers Ford in Hampshire in 2001. The couple renovated an old abandoned farmhouse in the Le Marche, Italy.

“David and I were absolutely fed up with our lives in the UK and as my brother had been living in Le Marche for over nine years it was the obvious place to start looking”, says Pam. They soon found what they were looking for - a typical Italian home set in a hectre of land and surrounded by open countryside. The three-storey abandoned farmhouse was on the market for just £42,000, but was in need of total renovation.

“It was quite a challenge”, continues Pam, “but David and I rather like being in that type of situation and so we set to work not just getting the property habitable for ourselves, but also carrying out a substantial business plan with the designation of country house providing bed and breakfast with a fully licensed restaurant.”
<br />The idyllic Villa San Ginesio.

The idyllic Villa San Ginesio.

Renovation work included a new roof, doors, windows, wiring, plumbing, central heating, sewerage, landscaping, a professional kitchen, tiling, plastering, and the creating of nine bathrooms and a bar plus purchase of furniture for nine rooms and public areas and a new swimming pool. Later projects included extra rooms, decking and porticos etc. In addition they had to buy the linen, and soft furnishings, coffee and beer machines, crockery, outdoor furniture, and the complete stocking of the restaurant and bar.

Time was tight as they had to be open by February 2003 when they had 12 guests booked in! Pam is a gregarious person who had run a model agency and an events company, so she knew the advantages of public relations. Because of the unusual concept of derelict farmhouse to country hotel, the property was featured on A Place in Italy 2004, a Channel 4 production. The property was also featured on BBC’s Put your Money where your Mouth is in 2008. Guests have included a wide range of stars and celebrities including GMTV’s Ben Shepherd.

But why sell up now? “After six years of running the business and the fact we are not getting any younger, we are now looking for a different lifestyle.” Says Pam. “However, whoever buys our lovely home will not be left totally on their own to run the business. David and I are happy to offer support with the marketing for at least six months if they wish it.”

Villa San Ginesio Country House is on the market for 775.000 euros via
Property Specialists Italy - Casa Travella Premier