EXPLORING THE HIDDEN MARCHE

Arrive in Fermo, a city with a Roman imprint. Visit of the famous complex of Roman cisterns, date back around the first century AD, unique in Italy by extension, consisting of thirty rooms arranged on three levels that collected rainwater and distribute it all the city. Inside you can see the construction techniques of the imposing masonry, traces of the waterproof plaster, the air wells for purification and pipes, note that some rooms were used until the eighties for their perfect state of preservation. A truly charming visit. Hotel accommodation, dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel, transfer to Ancona. Visit the Doric city with the Cathedral of San Ciriaco, the Port, Piazza del Plebiscito, the Passetto Park, the Romanesque Church Santa Maria delle Piazza, the Arch of Trajan and the Mole Vanvitelliana close to the port, particular for its pentagonal walls, designed by Carlo Vanvitelli as a warehouse for incoming goods, as a defense structure for the city but especially as Lazzaretto. Visit of underground Ancona, under the modern unexpected places. Visit to the underground Cisterns of the Fountain of Calamo, one of the symbols of Ancona. This is also called Fountain of the Thirteen Cannelle because of thirteen vents from which it flows water. The exact date of its construction is not known, but in 1426 it was already equipped with tanks, the ancient large underground cistern that received the water from the aqueduct coming from Monte Conero, currently can be visited through a passage that opens to the right of the fountain. Continuation to Osimo. Visit to the Caves of Cantinone; a tunnel of 300 meters under the covered market, used since the time of the ancient Piceni. On the sandstone walls you can still see the signs of man’s work done with rudimentary tools. The bas-reliefs and the figures that can be admired in the Grotte del Cantinone are purely religious, probably here the friars came down to find themselves in prayer or to stay alone in absolute silence, far from the noise of the surface. But if the Caves of the Cantinone preserve religious symbols, in those of Piazza Dante we find reliefs with a strong esoteric connotation, due to characters historically linked to the Carboneria and the Masonic lodges, such as the Count Cesare Gallo. Free time to visit the town: the Cathedral of San Leopardo and Santa Tecla, in Romanesque-Gothic style, the Basilica of San Giuseppe da Copertino, and the Palazzo civico located in Piazza Boccolino. Return to the hotel, dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel, transfer to the town of Terre Roveresche for the visit of the Hypogeum of Piagge. It is an underground environment located near the entrance of the medieval castle of Piagge. The underground environment has a cruciform plant, and there are also geometric motifs in the walls and in the vaults. The layout of the place, the plan and the depictions allowed us to hypothesize that the function was hosting initiation rites, orders of chivalry or esoteric rites. Transfer to Urbino, the Ducal city. Visit the historic center with the birthplace of Raphael, the Piazza del Mercantale, Piazza of the Republic, the Duomo and finally the Ducal Palace that houses the works of the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche. End of services.