As we demonstrated in last week’s post, there are more reasons to travel to Italy’s Marche region than a visit of Parasol Paradise.
Reasons of travel logistics, for example. Marche sits pretty much in the centre of the Adriatic coast, and the airport of Ancona, the region’s heart and capital, is – while small and poorly organized – well integrated into Europe’s air travel network. Europe’s cheapest discount airline (RyanAir) flies there daily from London and several times a week from Dusseldorf-Weeze and Brussels, while a rival carrier (Volotea) operates a twice-weekly service to and from Paris.
Most passengers on our flight to Ancona (coming from London) were Italians – expats and locals who seemed to have visited friends or family in the UK – but there were also a fair number of tourists. Most likely, these people came to Ancona – the heart of Adriatic Italy – to visit the region’s beaches, but some may also have had other things in their sights – such as Adriatic Italy’s cultural hotspots of Bologna and Ravenna. Even Venice is just a 3-hour-and-a-half train ride away, which can make Ancona a low-cost alternative of getting there.
For many of the passengers who arrive in Ancona to go elsewhere, the airport and the train station are the only places in town they will ever see. Which, for several reasons, is a pity.
A Visit to Ancona – The Heart of Adriatic Italy
Why not stay there for one night rather than board the next bus or train? First of all, this will make the journey feel far less rushed and less stressful. But you also lose only a little time and gain an experience that you would otherwise not have made. So give the heart of Adriatic Italy a chance to charm you – and see what it has up its sleeve.
Short stays, however, need to be well organized. If you only have two or three daylight hours to explore a place, you should not simply dawdle out of your hotel and trust in your ability to make something happen. Serendipity has its place, but this is not it.
To avoid walking up and down the same couple of streets until you are tired and hungry, you need a plan. Here is one.
Start at Piazza Cavour in the dead centre of town and turn into Corso Garibaldi, Ancona’s main shopping street. When you arrive at the central market place, …
… turn right for a short detour via Corso Mazzini to see the scenic Fountain of the 13 Spouts aka the Fontana del Calamo.
A public source of water has stood in this place since the 4th century BC when Ancona was a Greek colony, and the current fountain was conceived as a link in this chain of tradition. Built in the 16th century, it was not just an ornamental piece of street furniture but also served the community’s practical needs, being flanked by public washing basins on either side.
Perhaps to honour this tradition of utilitarian thinking, one of the spouts over the former washing basin has been provided – recently, as it seems – with a modern and decidedly non-ornamental mouthpiece.
Continue down Corso Garibald until you spot the Teatro delle Muse on your right hand side …
… and turn right at the far end of the Piazza into the Via della Loggia, the architectural showpiece of Ancona.
The entire street is lined by buildings that served the grandest of the city’s merchants in the 15th and 16th centuries as offices and residential homes. Look out for the Loggia dei Mercanti, the most richly decorated of the lot, towards the end of the street at no. 34.
Now for the hard bit. Turn right into Vicolo della Serpe, although in fact, it does not matter very much which of the uphill side streets you climb …
… since they are equally steep, mysterious and picturesque …
… and will all (eventually) lead you to the Palazzo degli Anziani, Ancona’s City Hall from the 11th century until the end of WWII. Once you have caught your breath, you may also find a moment to enjoy the panoramic views over the port.
Continue your ascent of the Guasco Hill up to the Punto Panoramico – where the end of your journey is near: only one more flight of stairs …
… and you have reached the Duomo, the Cathedral of San Ciriaco.
It is said that the foundations of the Cathedral feature a stone from Saint Stephen’s martyrdom, but the Crypt houses an even more significant – and certainly more gruesome – relic.
This is the head of St James, Son of Alphaeus, one of the original twelve Apostles. He is also sometimes called “the Less” to distinguish him from “Saint James the Great” whose remains lie in Santiago de Compostela.
How exactly the head has found its way to Ancona is unknown. In all probability, some Italian nobleman bought it from a Middle Eastern tradesman during the crusades. The head is therefore “of doubtful provenance” since it has not gone through the hands of abbots and bishops since the dawn of Christianity, and it does not help that it has a rival – another (and better documented) head of James the Less is venerated in Santiago de Compostela. (One Santiago was clearly not enough for the town.)
The Ancona head, however, has papal authority on its side: after all the evidence was subjected to a doubtlessly exhaustive and dispassionate examination by a commission of priests and experts, Pope Pius IX provided it with a Decree of Authenticity in 1873. Which is where this matter must surely rest.
If, after the climb to the highest point in town, you still have some energy left, you can descend the Guasco Hill on the far side, passing the ancient Roman amphitheatre for a stroll through the Cardeto Park.
Look for the not-easy-to-find entrance at the end of Via Birarelli, on top of a short and narrow stairway. The park’s most attractive feature is its range of panoramic seaviews, which often come with scenic parts of downtown Ancona attached.
Now think about it: would you have seen more interesting things on the same afternoon in the place you are heading for – or on the morning of the next day that you will now use to reach your destination?
You can easily make up for the loss of half a day during the remainder of your holiday. But an opportunity to visit a place like Ancona – the heart of Adriatic Italy at the outer periphery of the tourists’ itinerary – will, once gone, never come back.
