We have already mentioned some of the medieval villages that we visited (Mondavio, Corinaldo, Loratello, Nidastore). During our 1st week in Italy, much of our time was occupied by the language school. But in the afternoon on Thursday, we took a little drive and visited some of the other villages in the area.
Our first stop was Sant'Andrea di Suasa. There was a little park outside of the wall where you can look back to the ramp leading into the city.
So we walked up the ramp to the arched entrance.
The name of the town pays homage to the ancient community of Suasa, which pre-dated the Romans in this area. Much later, around 1500, it was part of Lord Giovanni della Rovere's duchy. Yes, the same man who commissioned the Rocca in Mondavio. The little symbol over the city's entrance is his coat of arms. We were there in October, and the man was getting ready for winter, bringing up some wood. The tractor is where we were standing in the previous photo. The there is a little video of him entering the city through the arch. Those city entrances are NOT large.
We parked just outside the city wall, next to the park. Our rental this year was a Citroen C5. While we had reserved an Italian vehicle, the car rental company had this one that is made in France. It was definitely larger than we wanted, making it more difficult to traverse these narrow Italian streets.
The park had a cute pig statue, but no explanation of why and we haven't been able to find out on-line either.
Our next stop was Fratte Rosa. There was a little sign there that said "Quattrocento passi tra cielo e terra, acqua e fuoco" : Four hundred steps between sky and earth, water and fire. We have no clue what it means, other than talking about the 4 historic 'elements' of air, earth, water, and fire. As with most of these villages, there is a lovely view from Fratte Rosa.
While Stations of the Cross are common in the many churches in Italy, this community is unusual in that it had the station plaques on various exterior walls.
We saw pretty plants around many houses. This corner yard is a nice example.
When we realized that San'Ippolito was nearby, we of course had to go. This is the village where Francesco's mother Lina and her sister Tina grew up before moving to Fano. Here is Paul next to the old homestead.
(In 2018, we took a picture of Anne in the same spot; scroll down to the bottom of this page from 2018 to see that pic.) At the entrance to the old city center is another monument to those lost in war, this time specifically World War 1.
There were other public art works in San'Ippolito, such as this one that reminds Anne of an abstract whale fluke.
There is a dog's water bowl on the steps in this next photograph. Perhaps the little tiny yard is to make the pooch more comfortable 'doing his business'. It is certainly small!
A short drive away is Sorbolongo, which is in the same municipality as San'Ippolito. We could easily see San'Ippolito when we viewed the countryside.
A cute statue of a snail greeted us when we arrived. Every May, the village has a Snail Festival, featuring many dishes prepared with locally collected snails.
There was another interesting statue along the edge of the city. The back side had the shape of an S, perhaps standing for Sorbolongo. Alternatively, it might stand for the Archangel Michael, since the front side of the statue is of an angel and the nearby church is Chiesa Si San Michele Arcangelo. At least, we assume it is of an angel.
Although it was unfortunately closed, there was an elaborate village diorama in Sorbolongo. It is probably open during the Christmas season, since the building along the far wall looks like a manger with a star over it.
Our final stop this day was in Barchi. It is a slightly larger city (although the population is still only around 1000). We could see Mondavio (in the right of this next picture) and Orciano di Pesaro (in the center). Our Airbnb is actually on the other side of La Rocca when viewed from Barchi, which conversely meant that we could not see Barchi when sipping wine on our rooftop terrace. Oh well.
Anne was NOT involved with this Crochet Bombing.
Perhaps you are familiar with Bocce. It is a game where players try to throw larger balls as close as possible to a small target ball. In the narrow space between the historic city walls and the road, the residents of Barchi creatively made Bocce Ball courts. It would be fun to see a tournament here.
Barchi conveniently had a unisex public bathroom available. Not as conveniently, it is of the old 'Turkish' style, a.k.a. a hole in the ground. It was a very nice hole, with a tank for flushing and with toilet paper.
Updated December 2023