Italy Day 7: the Via Flaminia and Urbino

The ancient Via Flaminia goes through the tiny town of Acqualagna, Italy which is the tartufi (truffle) capital of Italy.  Unfortunately, being the day after Christmas, nothing was open so we could not sample any local truffles.  This is one of the drawbacks of traveling over the holidays/low season.  I still wouldn't trade it for summer heat and hoards of tourists!

Ruins of the original Via Flaminia

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

This is a 2000 year old tunnel on the Via Flaminia in the Gola del Furlo (Furlo Gorge)

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

Our next stop was the town of Urbino, a remarkably well-preserved Renaissance city and therefore a UNESCO World Heritage site. The main attraction is the Palazzo Ducale (Ducal Palace) built in the mid-fifteenth century.

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

The  Galleria Nazionale della Marche is located inside the Palazzo Ducale and houses one of the most important Renaissance art collections in the world.

  

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

My favorite:

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

After we left Urbino we drove to the town of Jesi for dinner. The chef who cooked our Christmas Eve dinner owns a restaurant in the town and we wanted to visit him again.

Traditional Italian Christmas decor (very unlike ours in America!)

From 12/26/11 Italy Day 7: Urbino

To see all of our photos from Day 7 of our 2011 Italy trip click here.