7 Archaeological Parks in the Marche
Our Region is deeply rooted in history, let’s discover the 7 archaeological parks in the Marche region.
Located in the municipalities of Urbisaglia, Sassoferrato, Cupra Marittima, Falerone, Fossombrone, San Severino Marche and Castelleone di Suasa, Marche has 7 archaeological parks located in areas protected by the region, that we are introducing you and are inviting you to visit them.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK OF URBS SALVIA – URBISAGLIA (MC)
The Archaeological Park of Urbisaglia is the best example of the level of development reached by the Roman cities of Piceno, and occupies the area of the Roman colony of Urbs Salvia of the Augustan period.
It is about 40 hectares and is the most important and spectacular of the Marche region, with a guided tour that winds through pleasant paths, permitting to grasp the structure of a typical Roman city.
At the highest point there is the Reservoir of the aqueduct, two parallel tunnels that supplied water to the city below.
Then you can find the Theatre, one of the largest in Italy and the only one that retains traces of painted plaster, built in brick at the beginning of the first century AD with an underlying “Building with large niches”. It served as a picturesque link between the various levels of the city, that is, between the overlying plateau of the theatre and the forum.
At the base of the hill lies the majestic sacred area, consisting of a smaller temple and a large Temple with the cryptoporticus, the underground corridor, where you can admire precious frescoes of the iconography related to the propaganda of the Augustan and delicious panes with scenes of animals interspersed with masks of the moon.
Outside of the imposing walls, that in some places is up to five metres tall, there are the Amphitheatre and two impressive funeral monuments, built at the end of the first century AD.
In addition, we recommend visiting the Archaeological Museum, with an exhibition of the Roman city and its territory spread over two floors of a nineteenth-century building in the centre of the modern settlement.
Opening hours of the Park of Urbisaglia:– from 1 March to 14 June: Saturday, Sunday and public Holidays 10:00 – 13:00 / 15:00 – 18:00– from 15 June to 15 September: every day 10:00 – 13:00 / 15:00 – 19:00– from 16 September to 31 October: Saturday, Sunday and public Holidays 10:00 – 13:00 / 15:00 – 18:00– from 1 November to 28 February: Saturday, Sunday and public Holidays 10:00 – 13:00 / 14:30 – 16:30
It is possible to visit the park outside of these hours by reservation only.
For information and reservations: Tel. 0733 506566 / [email protected]
ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK OF SENTINUM – SASSOFERRATO (AN)
The ruins of the Roman city of Sentinum is located in the south of Sassoferrato, consisting of two areas, respectively, in Santa Lucia and Civita.
The town owes its name to the famous battle of Sentino (295 BC) in which the Romans defeated the coalition Italic and conquered the territories of the Middle Adriatic sea.
The remains of the city of Sentinum which now you can see just a small part of the ancient urban extension, followed the course of the natural limits of the plateau.
Nowadays you can see the two main streets, the cardo maximus and the decumanus maximus, the remains of a thermal spa, the ruins of the walls, the mosaic floors, some granite columns, the foundations, some tracks of floors, the drains, the remains of a temple tetrastyle of the Augustan era, and those of other buildings in the village.
Opening hours of the Archaeological Park of Sassoferrato: June to October– Monday from 16:00 to 18:00– From Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 12:30 and from 16:00 to 18:00 For further information and reservations: Tel.
0732 956257 / 333 7301732 / 333 7300890email: [email protected]
ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK – CUPRA MARITTIMA (AP)
The area of the Archaeological Park of Cupra Marittima is extended to the north of the town of the current of Cupra Marittima, for a surface of about 32 hectares.
The fulcrum of the area, as well as of the ancient city, is the forum, which has a vaguely rectangular shape, together with the most significant remains of the forensic area, and a temple of Venus flanked by two arches of honour and placed in a context of great charm and beauty.
Just outside the Roman city, along the Adriatic State road, you can look at the structures of a villa with nymphaeum, that were popular until the fourth century AD and a thermal building with late imperial mosaics.
Subsequent excavation operations have allowed us to put in light the calidarium with the pool in the spa , called “Nero’s Baths”, where you can see the portions of mosaic floors and suspensurae.
The archaeological material recovered in the ancient era is scattered in various museums, even outside of the regional district (Verona, Bologna, Perugia, Rome, Lecce), while that recovered in the last few decades is preserved in the local Municipal Archaeological Museum, located in the medieval village of Marano, in an old tower-house of 1700, the Palazzo Cipolletti.
Opening hours of the Archaeological Park of Cupra Marittima:– From June to September, Easter, Christmas and during other holidays open all day from 18 to 21.
– In other periods, open by reservation.
Information and reservations: Archeoclub – Tel. 0735 778622
ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK – FALERONE (FM)
The archaeological park of Falerone is extended for about 30 hectares, near the provincial road and joins the remains of the monumental Theatre, the Amphitheatre, the Aqueduct, and other public buildings.
Today it represents the remainder of the places selected by the Romans as the site of Falerio Picenus, an important town of the valley of the Tenna.
Summarily it can be divided into two parts: the first, central, for the most part affected by the construction took place since the seventies; the second, toward the east and toward the north, and almost totally cultivated and suitable for research work and enhancement.
The theatre still looks like a monumental building, considered as one of the Roman theatre best preserved of the Marche region, which is still used in the summer for some performances.
Opening hours of the Archaeological Park of Falerone: January Holidays: 15:30/18:30 February/March: upon reservation April/May: public Holidays 15:30/18:30June: Sundays and holidays 16:00/19:00 July/August: Saturday, Sunday and Holidays from 16:00/19:00 September: Sunday, 16:00/19:00October/November: on reservation December:
Holidays: 15:30/18:30
For more information and reservations: Ass.ne Minerva – Cell. 333 5816389 / Mail: [email protected]
ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK OF FORUM SEMPRONII – FOSSOMBRONE (PU)
The roman city of Forum Sempronii stood about 2 Km to the west of the present town of Fossombrone, and had a rectangular plan with sides oriented in north-south direction and east west for a surface area of about 20 hectares.
The very name of the Roman town literally means “the Forum of Sempronio”, where the term Forum means properly a market place, highlighting the natural commercial vocation.
The urban layout of Forum Sempronii, was certainly influenced by pre-existing the via Flaminia, which constitute the road, the most important of the city.
The visit to the archaeological area begins from the Church of San Martino, originally plebeian, and the current architecture dates back to the eighteenth century.
To the side of the church you can see a barrel, a large container for liquids or food that was usually buried for more than half of its height, and some of the architectural elements in stone: it is the material recovered from the urban area during the excavations.
The excavations have allowed discovering other stretches of roads paved, and the remains of private and public buildings and fine mosaics, including the one in the center depicts Europa sitting on a bull in the race (that is Jupiter)
The area of the forum, namely, the public square where the two main roads are intersected (the decumanus maximus and the kardo maximus), has not yet been identified, although it is not excluded that it can be situated where now there is the Church of San Martino.
The opening hours of the Archaeological Park of Fossombrone:
It is possible to visit the archaeological park of Fossombrone all year upon reservation only.
For more information and reservations: Tel. 0721 7231; Prof. Giancarlo Gori Tel. 0721 714645
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK OF SEPTEMPEDA – SAN SEVERINO MARCHE (MC)
The Archaeological Park of the roman city of Septempeda is located to the east of the current San Severino Marche, on the left of the river Potenza, near the church of St. Maria della Pieve.
It was identified that a large part of the walls built with a square shape with large blocks of sandstone, and made visible to the east gate and that one to the south-west.
You can visit a large spa building consisting of a series of rooms arranged around a central courtyard paved in opus spicatum, and a complex craft with furnaces for the production of ceramics, also dating back to the roman era.
We recommend a visit to the Museo Archeologico Giuseppe Moretti, which preserves prehistoric remains, the picenes and the romans.
The archaeological park of San Severino Marche is open all year upon reservation only.
For more information and reservations:Pro Loco San Severino Marche – Tel.
0733 638414 Municipal Gallery “Tacchi Venturi” – Tel. 0733 638095 Archaeological Museum
G. Moretti – Tel. 0733 6380959
ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK – CASTELLEONE DI SUASA (AN)
The Archaeological Park of Suasa is located along the Cesano Valley, the ancient town was narrow and long, closed at the edge between the course of the river Cesano to the west and the low hills to the east, and at the end of The first century AD, it was built a large amphitheatre at the base, one of the largest in the region, capable of accommodating several thousand spectators.
The residential complex is the richest and best-known city and it is certainly constituted by the domus of the Coiedii (a rich senatorial family of Suasa), the use of which must be from the II sec. BC to the fifth century AD.
Today it is part of the Archeological Park of Castelleone di Suasa, and was built in a central position between the area of the Forum and the Amphitheater, overlooking the important road axis of the ancient city of Suasa.
The domus has undergone over the centuries various construction projects which have changed the structure, the plan and the decorations.
Opening hours of the archaeological park Castelleone di Suasa:– From 16 March to 30 June: open Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 15:30 – 19:30– From 1 July to 31 August: open from Tuesday to Saturday 16:00 – 20:00 and Sunday: 10:30 – 12:30 / 16:00 – 20:00– From 1 September to 8 December, open Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 15:30 – 19:30 For further
information and reservations: Tel. 071.966524;
