It is not hard to imagine the great lords of noble families peacefully lying down and enjoying the sunlight in the charming gardens of their country houses. Two magnificent villas, sitting into the Mount St. Bartolo Natural Park just a few kilometres away from the city centre, can be visited to dive into such an atmosphere. Called this way because its first stone was laid down by Emperor FredericK III of the House of Habsburg, who happened to pass by Pesaro in 1469, Villa Imperiale (Imperial Villa) was built as a “place of delight” even though it kept some aspects typical of the defensive architecture, an ideological inheritance from a time when conflicts were very frequent. In the XVI century it became a property of the Della Rovere family, who enlarged and renewed it. The Villa can be visited June to September. It still surprises because of its imposing structure and the beautiful green spaces, the first example in Marche of a multi-level terraced garden, which Eleonora Gonzaga wanted to be created. Just a couple of kilometres away there is Villa Caprile, built by marquis Giovanni Mosca in 1640 as a summer residence. In the corridors of this splendid building walked such illustrious personalities as Casanova, Stendhal, Rossini and poet Giacomo Leopardi. It was designed, according to the taste of that time, to be a source of delight and fun; so, while walking in the lovely Italian garden, it may still happen of being splashed by the sophisticated water games which surprise the visitors and make them smile. In the Villa is nowadays located the Istituto Tecnico Agrario (Technical – Agricultural Institution) “A. Cecchi”, but the place can be visited during the whole summertime. In the first week-end of June it hosts “Caprile Illuminata” (Enlightened Caprile), three days dedicated to concerts, readings and much more.
Villa Imperiale