IL RIFUGIO HOLIDAY HOUSE IN ITALY MARCHE

LE MARCHE, A BIT OF HISTORY.. The early inhabitants of Marche were the "Piceni" whose civilisation developed between the 9th and the 3rd century before Christ. In 268 b.C. the "Picenum" (actual Marche) was conquered by the Romans so becoming a roman colony. After the fall of the Roman Empire the "Picenum" was invaded by barbarians. At the beginning of the 7th century (after Christ) the territory was under the control of the Longobards and of the Franks who divided it into "marches" which means "border areas" and which the territory took its actual name from. Around the 10th century the Marche were under the control of foreign emperors who struggled for centuries with the Popes for the supremacy of the territory. In 1500 the Marche were ruled by the seigniory of the "Montefeltros" in Urbino and emerged, thanks to "Federico da Montefeltro" second duke of Urbino, as a centre of high Renaissance culture attracting to the Duke's court artists and architects from all over Italy. In 1861 Marche were annexed to the "new born" Italy under Vittorio Emanuele II, first king of "Regno di Italia".   Il Rifugio cottage in Italy, Marche - how to see in Marche: Urbino

LE MARCHE, WHAT TO SEE

The unspoiled hinterland of Marche offers visitors a chance of discovering, a calm and a patriarchal atmosphere where the rural traditions are still alive in the quiet of gently rolling hills, small villages and medieval towns perched on high and overlooking valleys.

In Marche for centuries history was made by princes and warlike popes who erected castles, fortresses, abbeys, monasteries, palaces and monuments, still well maintained, that enrich the region across its entire expanse.

In the province of Ancona is the Frasassi Gorge Regional Park through which a river cuts its bed producing a complex system of underground caves, considered among the most interesting in the world : the Frasassi Caves. It takes about an hour to walk along the silent path through the caves and every step in this fairy and lost world is marked by wonderful small lakes, stalactites and giant stalagmites the biggest of which is 240 high.

Urbino is famous throughout the world for being the birthplace of Raffaello and for the inestimable masterpieces housed in the National Gallery, within the Ducal Palace considered as one of the best example of Renaissance architecture in Italy. Urbino was the peak of its glory when Duke Federico II (1422/1482) gathered the greatest artists and writers of the time to his court.

Urbino is also the most ancient university town in Italy going back to 1200.