Opera in the Arena

After our visit to Montegridolfo, we left Emilia-Romagna and continued south into Umbria and Marche.

First stop was the mediaeval town of Gubbio, about 50-kilometres from the Umbrian capital Perugia …

But our main destination was in Marche. Macerata is a city with a rich cultural heritage – and we were headed to the opera!

Set above the rolling hills of the Marche countryside, Macerata is surrounded by olive groves and vineyards. It's a spectacular setting.

The biggest event in town is the annual Opera Festival, held in the wonderful Sferisterio Arena.

Funded by wealthy citizens of Macerata, the 3000-seat amphitheatre was built in the 1820s in the 'Roman style'.

It was originally designed for that once wildly-popular sport, Sferisterio - also known as 'Game of the Ball with Bracelet' (it's a long story). 🙂

But today the Sferisterio is home to events of a very different kind.

We made it to town for the last performance of the last opera of the season - and ended up with great seats (that's Greg in the centre foreground).

We didn't know the opera 'Lucia di Lammermoor' by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti, so the English surtitles projected above the stage were very helpful!

It was an excellent production with some wonderful performances - though it did seem slightly odd to be watching men in kilts on a stage in rural Italy (the opera is based on a novel by the Scottish writer Walter Scott). 🙂

Italians in general love opera and people come from far and wide to enjoy the season in Macerata.

But even if opera is not your thing, Macerata is worth visiting.

Piazza della Libertà in the centre of town.

The Civic Tower dominates one side of the square; begun in 1492, it took around 150 years to complete.

The astronomical clock was built in 1571 by three brothers - master watchmakers from Reggio Emilia - and restored in 2015 in collaboration with the Galileo Museum in Florence.

We enjoyed our visit to Macerata and would have lingered longer, but there were other places to be and more things to see ...

Gubbio, which stands on the side of a mountain in the Apennines, is one of the most 'intact' medieval towns in Italy.

But the history here goes much further back; ruins of a Roman theatre dating from the 1st century.

Because Gubbio is set on the side of a mountain, there's a lot of walking uphill.

This street is much steeper than it looks. Helpfully, there are also a few lifts scattered throughout the city to whisk people up and down.

There's also this.

Wandering through Gubbio's labyrinth of lanes is a delight.

 

 

We especially enjoyed our visit here because Gubbio is also Patrizia's home town.

Montegridolfo, Macerata and Gubbio. Three regions, three towns, and a terrific Italian road trip.