artisan production	charcoals	historical evocations
	Works by Pier Paolo Zani

Montefeltro at the Table	anthropologic museums	natural, scientific and historical museums
Premise   Certified Wines   Gastronomic Tours

The Montefeltro and Massa Trabaria Region

This part of the Marche region is in the high Metauro valley, which borders on Umbria, Tuscany and Romagna. Because of its location in the heart of the Apennines, it was considered a Church province in the 13th to 14th centuries, with its capital being Casteldurante (Urbania) from the 15th century until the uniting of Italy. In this area there are still many traces from the Longobarda occupation, and great abbeys constructed by the Benedictines from the 7th through 13th centuries. The towns and territory were contested and divided between powerful families: Brancaleoni, Montefeltro, Malatesta, Oliva, Ubaldini, Della Faggiola, until about halfway through the 15th century when most was handed over to Federico the great of Urbino, who then encouraged fortification, works of art and industry.
All the towns are walled, some have Ducal Palaces and Parks (Urbania, Sant’Angelo in Vado, Mercatello), designed by Francesco di Giorgio Martini.

The widest and most picturesque valley is that of the Metauro, which between Fermignano and Urbania witnessed the Cartaginesi defeated by the Romans in the Battle of the Metauro, during the Punic wars, 207 B.C.
The river, winding and shadowy, encircles Urbania, famous for its ‘’Church of the Dead,” and prestigious works of art left by Donato Bramante (born in Urbania), Ghiberti, Pollaiolo, Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Genga, Vanvitelli, Pietra da Rimini, Barocci and Guido Cagnacci.
The river goes on to embrace Sant’Angelo in Vado, originally named Tiferno Metaurense by the Romans, and where the Zuccari siblings, Taddeo and Federico, were born.
The river Metauro then touches Mercatello, a small village containing a pearl of Italian art, the Byzantium icon ‘’Virgin with Child,’’ located in the Church of Saint Francesco (1300s), along with frescoes and other pieces of local art.
The Metauro originates in a tiny village called Borgo Pace, where the Meta and the Auro rivers combine.