Mondavio

Mondavio (Mondavi in dialect gallo-piceno) rises on a hill, about 20 km from the Adriatic Sea, from where you can enjoy a breathtaking view on the Monte Catria and Nerone. The village is situated between two rivers of the Marches region, to the right of the Metauro and to the left of the Cesano, at the center of their respective valleys. The toponym is found for the first time in a document of 1178, therefore well before the probable passage of Saint Francis on place conferred upon [page 271] him by the Ricci family to build a convent on the top of Mount Reen and silneso. The Holy on that occasion it would have welcomed the pleasantness of the place and the variety of birds. And from those expressions derives the name Mons Avium, upstream of the birds.

In 1462 the territory It is scenery of the historic battle between Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta and Federico da Montefeltro that military in the ranks of the Church (pope Pius II) against the Malatesta. With the end of the Signoria dei Malatesta, the Vicariate of Mondavio returned to the direct dominion of the Church as the Fano and Senigallia. The ascent to the papal throne of pope Sixtus IV Della Rovere in 1471 inaugurated a policy of nepotism which will have major consequences in the territory. In 1473 the pope painted Federico da Montefeltro with the title of Duke and these accepted imparentarsi with the Della Rovere giving in marriage his daughter Giovanna to the nephew of Pope Giovanni Della Rovere. The marriage took place in October 1474 and after a few days John was invested in the city of Senigallia, the vicariate of Mondavio and other lands. John lived for some time in Mondavio and gave the assignment to the ingenious architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini to build the rocca (erected between 1482 and 1492), that in all these centuries has never undergone any siege nor has he ever fired a shot from his cannons.

The urban conformation of the village of Mondavio is inspired to the architectural canons of the City as ‘living body’ of Leonardo and Francesco di Giorgio Martini. The complex Rocca-Piazza Municipio-Chiesa-it is the head, the corso Roma the trunk and tracks connected limbs. Merges two remarkable aristocratic palaces, the residence of the Della Rovere in Piazza Matteotti and Palazzo Giorgi in Corso Roma. Charming the suggestive streets minors with charming courtyards and small squares. Certainly deserve a visit to the Rocca Roveresca, which inter alia houses the Museum of Historical Commemoration. Near the village we also find the castle of Sant’Andrea di Suasa.