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Covering culture and travel for visitors to Urbino and Le Marche:
Read all 30 magazine articles online or order a printed copy at Urbino Now 2012.Story Locations
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Culture Archive
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Restoring the Heart of History
By Mikayla FranceseA heart-shaped book holds music, poems, a journal—and a 500-year-old mystery. “Here,” says the librarian as she passes it to me. “Hold it.” -
In the Footsteps of Ancient Rome
By Megan NorthcoteA soft whirring of propeller blades breaks the silence of the sunny, late May afternoon in the Italian Marche countryside. Archaeologist Oscar Mei, hovering in a helicopter, peers down to observe the Archaeological Park of Forum Sempronii, the site of a partially excavated ancient Roman colony... -
Behind the Mask
By Allison ButlerWe sit like children waiting for a magic show to begin. The trunk creaks open, and one by one he reveals his treasures: masks of Italy’s traditional Commedia Dell’Arte. -
Santoro’s Books
By Mikayla FranceseWhere to see more ancient books restored by Vincenzo Santoro. -
Sea By Cycle
By Pachia LeeVisitors to Italy typically think art, wine, cheese, and, of course, pizza. Few imagine cycling alongside a sandy beach. But if you’re based in Urbino and want to explore a different side of Le Marche... -
Healing the Cracks
By Sofia LugoThe smell of paint fills the quiet, wide room. This is the art restoration lab of the University of Urbino, where professor Michele Papi teaches... -
Restoring Urbino
By Sofia LugoMichele Papi and his sister, Federica Papi, established their own restoration business, Il Compasso, in 1983. Here are some of the works they have restored... -
Paradise Lost
By Erica DemsonThe palace doesn’t seem that big from the courtyard. It is only when I go underground to the cavernous kitchens and storerooms, where the air gets at least 10 degrees cooler, and when I walk up the wide, grand staircases that I truly understand... -
An Annotated “Ideal City”
By Erica DemsonThe painting La Citta Ideale (The Ideal City), contains many signs of Urbino's "mathematical Renaissance." Find them using our guide. -
The Truth about Italian Cooking
By Leah De GraafIt’s true, Italians do eat a large amount of pizza and pasta, but authentic Italian cuisine is much more than boiled noodles and tomato sauce... -
Mushroom Madonna
By Stephanie StricklandThe first thing I see when I walk into Tonti Agostina’s Urbino house is a cobalt blue mushroom as large as a flattened bowling ball. Until Tonti’s discovery, Ganoderma had gone unseen in the Le Marche region for 50 years... -
Make Your Own Mushroom Expedition
By Stephanie StricklandYou may not personally know any mushroom-hunting champions like Tonti Agostina. But you can still experience the adventure yourself with overnight excursions in the Marche ranging from a few days to more than a week. -
Apecchio: Where Beer Maketh Glad the Heart of Man
By Milana KaticStepping into the main dining room of the agriturismo Il Guiso was almost like diving into a glass of beer, the amber hue of the room matching the tones of the frothy liquid. Filippo Isotti greeted me with a smile, a handshake, and a bottle of Riserva Speciale... -
Pass the Passatelli, Please
By Milana KaticAt the restaurant La Trattoria del Leone, located on Via Cesare Battisti in Urbino, the traditional Le Marche dish passatelli in brodo reigns supreme. Made from a mixture of grated bread, mixed pecorino cheeses, parmesan, eggs, and a bit of salt and nutmeg... -
Your Daytrip to Apecchio
By Milana KaticAn alogastronomic lunch is a must, but let these tips help shape the rest of a fantastic day in Apecchio... -
Divine Light
By Sofia LugoThe Ducal Star, a glass lampshade based on a mathematical design that dates back to the 1400s, is a symbol of Urbino’s Renaissance. -
Debunking the Curse of the Ducal Palace
By Stephanie StricklandWant to know a little secret about Urbino’s infamous Ducal Palace? Legend has it that university students believe this site is cursed, and refuse to enter the palace for fear of never graduating... -
Order Coffee Like an Italian
By Mikayla Francese“It's a way of life,” says Giovanni Garbugli, co-owner of Urbino’s Sugar Café, as he explains why coffee in Italy is the best in the world. Want to order coffee like a native? -
Pause for Pausa
By Leah De GraafGated storefronts, dark grocery stores, and deserted streets might not be the greeting you’d expect upon arrival in Urbino, the quintessential Renaissance city. But if the time is between 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., this is the likely scene. -
Pasta to Die For
By Allison ButlerPasta so good you’ll die? Rumor has it that a certain type of pasta, strozzapreti, was so good that it once strangled a priest. -
Roman Remnants Revealed
By Megan NorthcoteTraces of ancient architecture, including curved Roman arches and triangular Medieval arches, can still be found incorporated into Urbino's modern-day buildings. -
Federico Fest
By Nandi AlexanderJoin the annual party for Federico da Montefeltro: jousting, dance, poetry, soccer, and more. -
Lingua Digitale
By Erica DemsonTips to help you e-mail and text like an Italian. -
A Street for Italy’s “Beating Heart”
By Azia ToussaintThe story of Via Giuseppe Mazzini. -
Cheek Kissing 101
By Pachia LeeA guide to greeting, continental-style. -
Saving the Station School
By Michelle FranksMaria Carobini, 69, spends her days tending to the delicate grains growing in the small orchard of the Station School, a school that just four years ago she was fighting to save. That fight was a community-wide revolution. -
Court of the Mine
By Sabrina KhanThe retired art professor sitting at his 1884 Merganthaler Comet 300 linotype resembles a modern-day Johannes Gutenberg. With his milky white hair and beard neatly trimmed, Egiziano Piersantini is demonstrating this massive metal letter-setting machine used by newspapers for most of the 20th century. -
Trick or Treat
By Maddaline LiottaThe mummies of Urbania are all about keeping up appearances. Pinned to the wall in awkward standing positions, the 18 dessicated bodies have yellowed skin that hangs off them like deflated and torn paper balloons encasing dehydrated organs. -
Hitting a High “C” in Urbania
By Morgan Kuster“Si Parla, Si Canta; we speak, we sing,” is the motto and name of an Italian operatic and language program in the Marche,180 miles north of Rome. Here vocal students from around the world gather in June for four to six weeks to learn Italian, and to improve their singing as they immerse themselves in Italian culture. -
Keeping the Faith
By Emily Lucas-FitzpatrickThe city tops a hill in the Apennine Mountains of central Italy. It emerged as an experimental center for Renaissance architecture in the middle of the 15th century. Yet it still occupies a special place today as a model of town planning and construction of the period. -
Art Restoration: Passion – and a Bit of Madness
By Timothy ReuterUrbino students train to help preserve Italy’s artistic memories. URBINO, Italy – Sitting on a short stool in a small, crowded laboratory inside the 15th century Ducal Palace, Daniela Pesca […] -
Father Serpieri: Urbino’s Amazing, Forgotten Scientist
By Stephany HolguinHe was an educator, seismologist, astronomer, botanist, scholar of languages and a Catholic priest. In the 19th century, Padre Alessandro Serpieri was a well-known figure in Italy, and honored especially in Urbino, the ancient hill town where he ran the Collegio Raffaello – at that time a progressive school that provided free college-preparatory education for local youth. -
Cracks in the Art of Ceramics
By Michelle LeeSilvio Biagini lifts a newly made ceramic plate off his shelf. He runs his fingers around the surface and prepares to adorn its blank face, paintbrush in hand. In an instant, images from Renaissance history start to form on it. “It is an activity that requires passion,” he says in Italian through a translator. “If you have passion, everything is easier.”