Tolentino Archives - Gray Matters

Photo By: Heather von Bargen — Piazza Gentili, San Ginesio, MC, Italia

San Ginesio is a fortified hilltop town and is named one of the borghi più belli d’Italia, (the most beautiful villages in Italy). At the bar in the piazza there, my husband Matt ordered us sandwiches and wine for lunch. I was emailing our real estate agent Kevin our offer to buy the house that we had traveled to see. We had left him less than fifteen minutes prior at the main city gate.

Kevin had told us that San Ginesio was hit hard by the earthquakes that struck the region in the fall of 2016. The clock on the tall tower in San Ginesio’s piazza was stuck at 7:29. The Collegiata church, a treasure of the city since 1098, was braced with steel bars and fenced-off, closed for repairs. It is said that Charlemagne’s parents, King Pipin the Short and his wife Bertrada are entombed just inside the entrance.

The florist across the church was open. Flowers and plants spilled out into the walkway, a display of undaunted beauty. The heat of the February sun was an antidote to the cold.

Part of its accessible charm, Le Marche has no large cities. Its many cultural, historical, gastronomical, and natural gems are spread throughout the region, scattered like Carnevale confetti. Ancona, the Adriatic port transportation center and capital of the region tops population lists with about 100,000 inhabitants. Yet only one in four of all municipalities in Le Marche have more than 5,000 residents.

You might think that all of these beautiful-medieval-walled-hilltop towns look alike. That they are nondescript, that they would blur into each other after seeing maybe, two. You might think they are tourist traps filled with souvenir shops. That they are contrived for our visiting benefit. You would be mistaken.

Not far from San Ginesio (pop. 1500), the ‘balcony of the Sibillini Mountains,’ with its enviable views, is Ripe San Ginesio (pop. 800). A jewel box of a village with public sculptures displayed everywhere. It even has a huge chessboard with tiered seating and panoramic vistas over the valley, should your attention wander from the match.

Amandola (pop. 3500), to the south and west, another gateway to the Sibillini, is a labyrinth of narrow zig-zags up a steep hill. Through the city gate barely wide enough for a Fiat 500, the lovely piazza is above a church reached by descending steps. Too cold to try the local gelato, at a gourmet shop just inside the city gate we sampled, then bought, local cheeses (one aged in a cave), truffles (a local speciality), and wines (at bargain prices).

The Marchigiani themselves voted the Piazza del Popolo in Ascoli Piceno as the most beautiful of the piazze in Le Marche. With 49,200 residents, Ascoli Piceno is the fourth-largest city in the Marche, but retains a small-town feel. Two football (soccer) nets stood on opposite ends of the large piazza and children were playing. Decorations hung overhead to celebrate the upcoming Carnevale. Made of shimmering travertine, the piazza is fronted by a church, cloisters, and Caffè Meletti, justifiably famous for its anise liquor made on site (really good in coffee). Every August, Ascoli Piceno holds a medieval reenactment festival and a jousting tournament in the piazza.

Tolentino (pop. 20,000), along the Chienti River, was a settlement of the Picenes who came to Le Marche in the early Iron Age (ninth-century BC) after being guided here by a woodpecker (picus in Latin). Accessed by a 13^thcentury, one-lane bridge (yes it’s scary) called Ponte del Diavolo (Devil’s bridge), Tolentino is a town with intact fortifications, a continuing heritage of pilgrimage visitors, and a thriving leather making industry.

Tolentino’s clock tower is worth driving over the bridge for.On the north side of Piazza Libertà, the 16^thcentury bell tower of the church of San Francesco has five elements. The top circle indicates the moon phase, the second shows the hours for prayers, the third gives the time, the fourth the day and the month, and barely visible at the bottom is a solar meridian line.

Loro Piceno (pop. 2400) is perched on a hill and dominated by a Norman castle with a large shaded park. Loro, as it is commonly referred to, is known for its Vin Cotto, cooked wine, made by heating it to concentrate the flavor and is often served for dessert. (Or with dessert, it’s that good, and no one will judge you.)

We returned to San Ginesio three months later, in May. We had closed on the house and went to the weekly market there. Our bag of potatoes, onions, and peppers was only €0.80. Matt brought our haul down to the car and we walked up to the piazza, to where it all started. The church was still boarded up behind the chain-link fence. But this time, the clock accurately displayed 12:35.

See a map of the region with the cities mentioned click here.
Read my prior story about Le Marche and its founding myths click here.
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A founding legend of Italy’s Le Marche region says that in the early Iron Age (Ninth century BC), a group of the Italic Sabines headed west, over the Apennine mountains. They were part of an ancient ritual, ver sacrum, or sacred spring, whereby all the babies born in the spring after a year of hardship were consecrated to the god of Mars. As children, they lived under Mars’ protection as sacrani. When they reached adulthood, they were sent away from their community to establish a new one elsewhere, guided by a spirit animal sacred to Mars. Strabo tells us that a woodpecker (picus in Latin) guided these sacrani to their new destiny in southern Marche.

Another legend relates that some Pelasgians, ancient Greeks, coming from the North, asked Mars to give them a sign after not finding a suitable place to stay. A woodpecker appeared. Following it, they were led to a fertile place to settle in Le Marche.

Le Marche, the Italian plural word for the Marches, means borderlands, and served as a buffer zone between the Papal States and their northern neighbors. This diverse area bordered by the Apennine mountains, Umbria and Tuscany to the West; the Adriatic to the East; Emilia-Romagna to the North; and Abruzzo to the South, is worth seeking out.

Medieval hilltop towns overlook the rolling countryside of patchwork farms and woods. A heritage of high-quality craftsmanship permeates the area known for its ironwork; shoe manufacturing, (Tod’s is headquartered here); and papermaking, (Euro bank notes are printed in Fabriano); to mention but a few. Twenty-five villages have been designated as borghi più belli d’Italia, (the most beautiful villages in Italy) and host frequent festivals and reenactments.

Le Marche has fewer tourists, friendly locals, 400 museums, 200 Romanesque churches, 150 castles, and 33 archeological sites. Ten percent of the territory is protected as parks and preserves. Excellent local meats, seafood, cheeses, pastas, produce, truffles, and wines add to the allure.

A complicated history; competing and changing loyalties; mountainous terrain; rivers that challenged north-south travel; a tenant farming culture that encouraged independence; and ingrained humility; all combine to make Le Marche today: Italy’s best-kept secret.

My husband Matt and I went in off-off-season February. We were not there to visit Urbino, the UNESCO World Heritage Renaissance city in northern Marche, or to swim in the dazzling Adriatic, or to hike in the mountains. We had planned to do all of that in the spring but pushed up our trip because I had seen an ad for a restored farmhouse on eight acres at a reasonable price and we wanted to see it.

Savvy travelers rent vacation homes in Le Marche lured by the peaceful countryside, relaxing atmosphere, and incredible views. We prequalified for an Italian mortgage in case we found a home that we could enjoy in our spare time and rent out to visitors.

Online pictures of Le Marche showed impossible blue skies, paper-white clouds, and vibrant sunflowers. I assumed they had been photoshopped. Thick gray clouds threatened rain as we drove the two-and-a half hours from Rome to our Airbnb in Loro Piceno in south-central Marche.

Below us, wispy fog wafted in the valley. On either side, sloping squares of green and brown fields were bordered by olive trees. Smoke curled upwards from chimneys. A neighbor’s dog barked occasionally. Magpies darted about, landing on nearby trees. The cold, clean air carried the promise of the nearby Adriatic.

During our week in Le Marche we encountered no other tourists. We found generous residents, resilient and recovering from three earthquakes that struck the region in 2016. We found hilltop villages with medieval secrets. We found an almost reverential respect for the environment. We found ancient Roman ruins right by the main road. We found honest, delicious food and unpretentious wines at affordable prices. We found warm welcomes. The guys at Saputi, a winery where we showed up unannounced, who made us sandwiches and taught us about local wines. Gabriele at Osteria Scherzi a Parte who made an international toast to us with his entire restaurant. Palmira at Ristorante Casa Mia who, after a four-hour lunch, hugged and kissed us goodbye and ordered us to come back.

Three months later, in early May, we returned to Le Marche. It was almost evening and Matt and I were unpacking in the farmhouse we had initially traveled to see, having bought it earlier that day. We heard a noise from outside. Rhythmic and insistent, almost urgent. I looked out the window. A stubborn woodpecker was pecking away at the eave above our bedroom.

Tag: Tolentino

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