Attractions and Places To See around Sant'Angelo In Vado - Top 20

Piobbico is a beautiful town in the province of Pesaro Urbino with about 1800 inhabitants. It is located in a valley between Monte Nerone and Monte Montiego and stands right at the confluence of two rivers: the Biscubio and the Candigliano. Piobbico is also known as the Land of the Ugly, due to the National Association of the Ugly, founded at the end of the 19th century to allow young women from Piobbico to find a husband; it currently has about 30,000 members and every year, on the first Sunday of September, the World Festival of the Ugly takes place. The festival is famous throughout central Italy and attracts a very large number of people each year.

The ruins of the Mondelacasa Castle (or Monte della Casa), called the Muracci, are located on the northern slopes of Mount Nerone, on the left bank of Val d'Abisso, at 707 m above sea level, about 1 km south of the historic center of Piobbico. (from COMUNE PIOBBICO 1999): Close to Mount Nerone stands a massive buttress whose base widens between the Biscubio torrent and the Petrello stream (Fosso di S. Maria) and carries the ruins of an ancient artifact on the summit. It was a castle, a primitive dwelling that the Brancaleoni, who arrived around the year 1000 in the Biscubio District, built and lived in until the mid-1300s. This is how our Costanzo Felici (1) describes it in a document from 1582:... climbing up to Monte Nerone a mile away on a rough and terrible hill and rock, there are vestiges of a superb, large and beautiful palace or fortress now in ruins, of which those (Brancaleoni) of Piobico were the owners. Built by Gentile Brancaleoni in the first half of the 13th century, it took the name of Mons Casa or Mondelacasa, today Muracci because of the ruins visible on the summit. Towards the middle of the 14th century, both because of the harshness of the place, difficult to reach when ... winter almost buried the tower under the snow, locked it under the grip of the ice, tormented it with the blizzard, confining it for months in isolation, and because of the need for other and more comfortable comforts, the two brothers Pazzo and Federico Brancaleoni decided to settle in the house that they had begun to build "in castro Plobici", on the hill to the right of the confluence of the Biscubio with the Candigliano, where there were already small houses piled up, that is, equipped with a watchtower with a Gothic arch portal to the north and a castle to the south-east. It is the place where the Brancaleoni Castle-Palazzo will develop and take shape over time. NOTE: (1) Costanzo Felici was born in the second decade of the 16th century in Casteldurante (now Urbania). However, he preferred to define himself as a native of Piobbico, where his ancestors had moved around 1330. He practiced medicine in Piobbico, Sant'Angelo in Vado, Pesaro, Rimini and Urbania. At the same time, he cultivated naturalistic and historical studies with notable results. He died in Pesaro on February 5, 1585. taken from: https://www.lavalledelmetauro.it/contenuti/beni-storici-artistici/scheda/11123.html

The Palazzo dei Principi di Carpegna is a majestic 17th-century residence located in the heart of the town of Carpegna, in the Marche region. The construction of the palace began in 1674 at the behest of Cardinal Gaspare di Carpegna, who wanted a more modern and comfortable residence than the old fortified fortress.

The interiors are spread over four levels with numerous rooms including the Throne Room and the reception rooms furnished with original period furniture, the library with ancient family documents, the stables, the mews and the kitchens with enormous wood-fired ovens. In August, the stables host the “Mostra dell’Artigianato Artistico del Montefeltro”. Next to the palace you can admire a fountain made from an ancient tomb. (Source: https://www.voloscontato.it/guide-per-viaggiatori/visitare-carpegna-cosa-vedere-e-passeggiate-nel-suggestivo-borgo-di-montagna-del-montefeltro.php#Carpegna-attractions-and-places-of-interest )

In the center of the town stands the imposing Palazzo dei Principi di Carpegna Falconieri, designed by the Roman architect Giovanni Antonio De' Rossi for Cardinal Gaspare di Carpegna. The palace, begun in 1675 and completed after over twenty years, is inspired by the fortified villas of Florentine origin and the large noble residences of the Roman countryside. It is still inhabited by the descendants of the thousand-year-old family and has remained almost intact after over 300 years, a fire and some strong earthquakes (1781). (Source: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpegna#Monumenti_e_luoghi_d'interesse )

The town extends in length along the southern slopes of the mountain of the same name, at 748 m above sea level, and is a climatic station frequented in summer for its mild and dry climate. ... The name probably derives from the Latin silva carpinea, or "hornbeam forest". The hornbeam, both white and black, is in fact a very common tree in the woods of Carpegna. ( Source: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpegna#Monumenti_e_luoghi_d'interesse )

Place to see, ancient fortress commissioned by Cosimo I of which little or nothing remains

The path from Passo Cantoniera to Sasso Simone is not always accessible, as part of the path is located inside the Military Range of Carpegna. On some days, access is prohibited (on days when fire drills are in progress). The current calendar can be consulted here: parcosimone.it/accessibilita-al-poligono-di-carpegna