Starting the New Year in the Marche

On New Year's Day we drove almost four hours northeast of Rome to the town of Urbino in the Marche region. The Tom-Tom GPS guided us along the Via Flaminia, the route chosen in 220 BC by the Roman politician and consul Flaminius to be one of the most important roadways of ancient Rome, connecting the capital to the Adriatic Sea.

It was dark when we arrived in Urbino, after driving through rain and fog in the mountains. We parked our car outside the old city and walked through the Porta Lavagine up to Via Raffaello.

This building housed our bed and breakfast and was just down the street from the birthplace of Raffaello.

This is the roof of the Church of San Francisco,

outside our B&B window.

Here are men hanging out in Piazza della Repubblica on Sunday Morning.

A statue of a bishop stands guard outside the Duomo.

The Ducal Palace of Federico di Montefalcro, designed by Luciano Laurana, holds many treasures. One of the rooms is a studiolo, a small room for study and contemplation with walls of trompe-l'oeil wooden inlays, depicting shelves, benches and half-opened cabinets. The palace also houses the National Gallery of the Marche with an amazing collection of Renaissance art.
San Crescentino is the patron of Urbino. (I confused him with St. George when I first saw this statue. They are both legendary slayers of dragons.) Crescentino was a Roman soldier who converted to Christianity, and was beheaded during the persecution of Diocletian in 303 AD.

Via Francigena: Reaching the Goal

Our goal for this part of the journey along the Via Francigena was to reach the Abbey of Sant' Antimo. That was 88 km from Bolsena, and it included a couple of mountain top destinations along the way.

The view as we left Lake Bolsena.

Birdwalk: San Lorenzo Nuovo

The town seal.

Shortly after leaving Bolsena I stopped in the town of San Lorenzo Nuovo. It is "new" because it was built for the survivors of a malaria epidemic in the 18th century, replacing their "old" town. The town was built in only four years (1774-1778) and is an example of a 18th century town plan designed by the architect Francesco Navone. The town has an octagonal layout with the neoclassic Church of San Lorenzo on the one side. The piazza in front of the church is crossed by the Via Cassia, going north-south. This main street is crossed by wide street going to the west, from which a network of smaller streets goes outward in parallel and perpendicular lines.

I enjoyed this arm holding a crucifix on the side of the pulpit

inside the Church of San Lorenzo.

Our first "planned" stop of the day was the Basilica of S. Sepolcro in Acquapendente. The town is named after its many little cascades flowing towards a small river which marks the natural boundary between Lazio and Tuscany.
The crypt of the basilica has a replica of the Holy Sepulchre, built as a shrine that contains a blood-stained stone which came from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

A detail of one of the beautiful altarpieces by della Robbia in the basilica.

The next part of the days trip was up the mountain to Radicofani.

Radicofani's mountain top landmark is a castle tower, from the time of Charlemagne, that can be seen for many kilometers as you approach the town.

The Romanesque church of San Pietro has some beautiful works by della Robbia.

Vincenzo as he leaves Radicofani, making his way to our last stop, the Abbey of Sant' Antimo.

We have almost arrived. Vincenzo is pointing to the abbey.

The Abbey of Sant' Antimo emerged as a Benedictine abbey from a small oratory built in 352. Legend has it that Charlemagne was the founder of the abbey and he contributed money for the construction. By the 1800's there was no longer a monastic community at Sant' Antimo and when the Papal States came to an end in 1870, the property was taken over by the Italian government. There have been various government directed restorations since then. In 1992 a community of Cannons Regular (Augustinians) began making their home at the Abbey.

We joined the monks for vespers. After experiencing the prayerful Gregorian chant and incense in the Abbey church, it was time for us to conclude our journey along this part of the Via Francigena.

Vincenzo took the wheels off the bike to put it in the car for the drive back home to Rome.

We are looking forward to other journeys along this road.