Down to the sea: the superb landscape of the “Balcony of the Marche”

Its name derives from the Latin word “cingulum”, which means “a flat slope on the flank of a mountain”. Nothing more appropriate: CINGOLI stands at 630 meters above sea level, perched on the top of Mount Circe and immersed in one of the areas with the most beautiful and richest flora in the Marche landscape.

Inserted among “I Borghi più Belli d’Italia” (Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages), Cingoli obtained the title of “Balcony of the Marche” region. From a large natural terrace built on the castle walls of medieval origin, it is in fact possible to enjoy the view of a vast part of the Marche region, with the natural setting of the Adriatic Sea and Monte Conero.

Its historic center is very characteristic, enlivened by the presence of Renaissance portals and noble palaces with warm-colored plasters. Among these, Palazzo Conti, with its beautiful Gothic portal and Palazzo Castiglioni – House Museum, in which are kept the furnishings and personal objects of Pope Pius VIII, born right here in 1761. Among the oldest structures in the center we find the Municipal Palace with its public clock, dated 1482. Today, the building is home to the State Archaeological Museum, which preserves precious prehistoric finds from the Hellenistic-Roman age.

The religious architecture is also very lively. The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta preserves in its sacristy the paintings “The Virgin and Child Enthroned” and the “SS. Catherine of Alexandria, Pietro, Esuperanzio, Bonfilio and La Rosa d’Oro “, a neoclassical goldsmith’s work, donated by Pope Pius VIII to the city in 1830.

The Church of San Filippo Neri is undoubtedly one of Cingoli’s jewels: the stone facade is embellished by a Romanesque portal, flanked by two small single-lancet windows. The Baroque interior, with its ceiling decorated with frescoes and stuccoes, still preserves valuable paintings by Calandrucci, Maratta, Marini, Conca, Cignani and Fanelli. The Church of San Domenico is home to a work of art of great value: the large canvas of the “Madonna del Rosario and Saints” painted by Lorenzo Lotto in 1539. The imposing painting, 389 x 264 cm, is undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of the master: the artist, who was then in his sixties, sealed his stylistic, technical, cultural and spiritual signature in it.

Do not miss a visit to the Municipal Art Gallery (Pinacoteca comunale) established in 1985, which preserves works of religious nature, early medieval reliefs and stone engravings, medieval and Renaissance ceramics and majolica, polychrome wooden statues of the 16th century, noble coats of arms. The contemporary section of the Pinacoteca houses a considerable number of canvases by painter Donatello Stefanucci, born in Cingoli in 1896, to whom the space is dedicated.

Cingoli is also home to a unique place in the world: the Motorcycle and Sidecar Museum. It houses scooters, motorcycles and sidecars, from the first, turn-of-the-century models to the more recent ones.

Buildings of great historical and architectural interest are also found outside the city walls.

In fact, here are the Collegiate Church of San Esuperanzio, the most important religious building in the city, founded in the 12th century, and the Baroque Sanctuary of Santa Sperandia. The original structure of the sanctuary dates back to the 13th century and inside it preserves the body of the saint, a Benedictine nun born in Gubbio and who lived in Cingoli and died there in 1276.

Cingoli not only has a great historical and artistic heritage, but it also offers the possibility of hiking and horseback riding or mountain biking in the woods, on the slopes of Mount San Vicino and near Lake Castreccioni. Do not miss the path of Tassinete, the one of S. Bonfilio (which leads to the ancient Silvestrino hermitage) and the one called the Fosso delle scalette. In addition, a little further away, the path that from the Rio Valley climbs to Mount Acuto, a place tied to one of the most fascinating legends of this land, that is the legend of the Serpent and the weaver.

The Cingoli tour can end with a taste of local, culinary specialties, such as calcioni, cheese pizza, cardoon parmigiana, tagliatelle with wild boar sauce, gnocchi with duck and jugged goose, as well as a fine butchery. Desserts traditionally from Cingoli are the donuts, the cavallucci and the well-known serpe (the snake).

To stay on the subject of typicality, certainly worth mentioning is the presence of an important and characteristic historical re-enactment: Cingoli 1848. For the occasion, the streets of the old town are decorated with the traditional flags of the three districts of the municipality. Clothes of the 19th-century city authorities, commoners and nobles can also be admired. In this way, it is possible to relive the magic of the festivals of that time, but also the great dances, the palla al bracciale game (the ball and the bracelet), the washing of clothes, and the duels between gentlemen.