Newsletter

It's a wonder that Le Marche still remain relatively unknown. The region lines the long, sandy Adriatic coast, but is screened off from Tuscany and Umbria by the peaks and twisty roads of the Apennines. So there is not much passing traffic: visitors tend to go to Le Marche and stay put.

And with good reason. Le Marche (sometimes translated as the Marches) have all the attractions that have traditionally drawn villa-renters to Italy: astonishingly beautiful landscapes, quiet and unspoilt rural villages, vibrant markets, great traditions of local food and wine punctuated by moments of rich and rewarding high culture.

Opera Festivals
Le Marche have two highly respected summer opera festivals. The festival in Macerata takes place in the unique setting of the Sferisterio, a large D-shaped neoclassical structure, open to the sky, and built in the 1820s as a court for a game like pelota basque, with ranks of open viewing balconies. This year's festival (the 43rd) runs from 26 July to 12 August; topically entitled 'Il Gioco dei Potenti' ('Power Games'), it features Verdi's Macbeth, Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, and Bellini's great masterpiece of bel canto Norma.
www.sferisterio.it

The Adriatic port of Pésaro was the birthplace of Rossini, and has hosted an annual Rossini Opera Festival since 1980; its main events are often international co-productions. The 2007 season runs from 8 to 21 August, and includes Il Turco in Italia playing at the historic Teatro Rossini, and Otello and La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) at the modern Adriatric Arena.
www.rossinioperafestival.it

The 'Palio' of Ascoli Piceno
Siena has its famous Palio, a bare-back horse-race, fizzing with medieval tradition. The charmed Renaissance city of Ascoli Piceno has La Giostra della Quintana (The Tournament of the Quintana), founded in 1378: a parade of more than 1000 participants in Renaissance costume followed by a horseback tournament, contested by six mounted knights with jousting lances. The knights represent the six sestieri (districts) of the city and their task is to hit a target in the shape of a Saracen to win the coveted prize: a palio (banner). The main Quintana event takes place on the first Sunday of August (5 August in 2007), with earlier, related events on preceding Saturdays from 7 July.

Sagre: Festivals of Local Food
There is a robust, authentic charm to the food and wine of Le Marche. You can find this in the market stalls, selling not only spectacular arrays of seasonal vegetables, but also superb artisan-crafted salamis, and excellent sheep and goat cheeses (try to find the celebrated formaggio di fossa ? sheep's cheese matured in holes dug into volcanic tuff rock).

But there is no better place to experience the pleasures of la cucina marchigiana than at a local food festival, or sagra. Countless sagre take place throughout the summer and autumn: they are essentially big village parties, focussing on a local food speciality, funded by the relatively low price of the entrance ticket. Some of these have become somewhat commercial and tourist-oriented in recent years, but they are always entertaining. The range of foods is astonishing: you'll find sagre devoted to spit-roasted pork, trout, sheep's cheese, quails, wild boar, frogs, snails, truffles, medieval recipes, and much more. For a list of scheduled sagre, see
www.le-marche.com/Marche/html/calendar.htm

Our Villas in Le Marche
We have three exceptional villas in the region. Two are in the north of Le Marche, within striking distance of the magical Renaissance city of Urbino: Casino di Caccia (sleeps 12), a former hunting lodge, is just 30 km from Pésaro, while Il Monastero (sleeps 10/12) is a former Benedictine monastery in the Apennine Mountains. In the south is the Villa Marnacchia (sleeps 6/8), near the charming little town of Amándola, close to the mountain walks of the Monti Sibillini National Park, and a scenic 40-km drive through wooded hills to Ascoli Piceno.