Excursion in Phossombron + Furlo Gorge

Residents of this small medieval town, located on the hillside, centered in the valley of the Metauro River, 30 km from the sea, call themselves happy. The purpose of our tour is to try to figure out what this is related to.

We will begin our excursion on the hill of the Capuchins, where there is a small church of the XVI century and a very modest monastery. The monks living here are followers of St. Francis, the patron saint of Italy, as well as St. Francis. Antony of Padua preaches austerity and poverty. However, the outward paraphernalia of the mendicant monastic order did not prevent him from owning the most beautiful lands of the Apennine Peninsula, and you can feel the fascinating charm of one of them yourself when you stand on top of the Holy Hill.

From a bird's-eye view you will enjoy views of the valley of the Metauro River, and from the school course History of the Ancient World remember that the outcome of the 2nd Punic War (218-201 BC) was decided here and perhaps think about how the course of world history would have changed if Carthage had won not Rome. In your imagination, you can go a little further and imagine what the multilane Flaminian Road looked like in those days, and Phossombrone itself was much larger in size and number of inhabitants a dozen times more. However, the city itself was then called differently - the Forum of Sempronia, in honor of the people's tribune Gaius Sempronius Gracchus (153-121 BC).

From here, from the Capuchin Hill, you can clearly see the Gola del Furlo protected gorge, famous for its black and white truffles (Tartuffi), as well as vineyards and cantines (cantina - wine yard), where the grapes grown here produce a magnificent white wine called Bianchello del Metauro (Bianchello del Metauro DOC).

You will be amazed by the architecture of this city. It is located on a steep hill, where there are only narrow streets and absolutely no roads. At the end of the tour, you will be asked to walk through one of these. Immediately we want to warn that not everyone can do this, you need good physical training, such as the local trained residents. When you see how easy and fun you will be overtaken by the local old women with heavy bags and at the same time joke and laugh at your difficult climb, I assure you that many will want to sign up for the gym or go on a diet to come back here again and run through these stairs with the same speed and dexterity.

Then we go down to the city center, which is conveniently located along the banks of the Metauro River. The first thing we will see is a bridge of the second half of the XVIII century, built on the type of medieval “bridges of the devil”. It is the hallmark of the city of Fossombrone and is considered one of the most beautiful in the Marche region.

After we walk along the main street of the city, the avenue Garibaldi (Corso Garibaldi), which consists entirely of palaces of the XIII-XVIII centuries, we will see the home of Duke Federico da Montefeltro. We made no mistake in his name. The fact is that it is more correct to say “Federico”, but in the Russian historical tradition it was customary to pronounce this name as “Federigo” in the Spanish manner. The Duke of Montefeltro did not accidentally arrange his winter and summer residence in Fossombron. The uniqueness of this city is also that there is no winter cold, and in summer there is no exhausting stuffiness.

And again, after the descent, we have a steep climb. We will go to the fortress of Malatesta (XIII-XV centuries), to the construction of which the genius of defensive architecture of the Renaissance Francesco di Giorgio Martini had a hand. The fortress is now almost completely destroyed, but I really hope that someday it will be restored and its powerful appearance will again guard the peace of the happy inhabitants of this city.