The system of Italian-style condominio the and Teatro Bramante

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. The system of Italian-style condominio the

   The Marche has more historic theatres per head than almost anywhere in Italy. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, almost every hill town built its own opera house, often paid for by local families who then owned their boxes, like apartments in a condominium, and passed them down through generations. The result is a network of jewel box theatres in small towns, with tiers of boxes, painted ceilings and gilded stucco, many of them restored and still in use. San Severino Marche, a few kilometres away, has the Teatro Feronia, one of these, and the network of such theatres across the region has been put forward for World Heritage recognition.

   Read the complete The system of Italian-style condominio the write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The system of Italian-style condominio the is where the day begins. Next is Assisi.

2. 2. Assisi

   From the valley floor Assisi looks like a long pale ribbon draped across the lower slope of Monte Subasio, and the colour comes from the mountain itself. The town is built of Subasio stone, a limestone that ranges from cream to rose, and in the evening light the whole place glows pink. It is, of course, the town of Francis, the merchant's son who gave away everything in the early thirteenth century and founded the Franciscan order, and of Clare, who followed him. The great basilica built over his tomb, begun in 1228, has two churches one above the other, and the frescoes inside, including the cycle of the saint's life traditionally attributed to Giotto, changed the course of European painting.

   Read the complete Assisi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Assisi comes up about 86 km into the recorded legs. Next is Teatro Bramante.

3. 3. Teatro Bramante

   Urbania has had three names. It began as Castel delle Ripe, became Casteldurante in the thirteenth century, and was renamed in 1636 when Pope Urban VIII took over the duchy and gave it his own. In the Renaissance it was a pottery town, famous for majolica, the tin-glazed painted earthenware that Duke Guidobaldo and his court sent as gifts around Europe, and the ceramics still sold in the shops carry on that tradition. The theatre that bears the name of Bramante, the great architect who was born in nearby Fermignano, stands in the town centre, a small, intimate house with tiers of boxes in the Italian manner, and the town itself is a small walled place on a bend of the Metauro river, with brick arcades and a handsome ducal palace.

   Read the complete Teatro Bramante write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 188 km into the recorded legs you reach Teatro Bramante. Next is back through Assisi.

4. 4. back through Assisi

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Assisi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Assisi, late in the day. Next is The system of Italian-style condominio the.

5. 5. The system of Italian-style condominio the

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete The system of Italian-style condominio the write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at The system of Italian-style condominio the. That is the ride.