The Della Rovere Fortress is located near the Adriatic coast, which has been a strategic location since ancient times against enemies coming from the sea. On the remains of the Roman era, the medieval coastal watchtower was built, which was enlarged and surrounded by defensive walls that became ever wider over the centuries.
The present appearance of the fortress dates back to the Renaissance period: it was built between 1476 and 1482 by Giovanni Della Rovere, named Lord of Sinigallia by Pope Sixtus IV, his uncle. Duke Giovanni Della Rovere commissioned the best architects at the time to build his residence: Luciano Laurana and Baccio Pontelli.
The structure of the fortress is a quadrilateral with four large fortified towers (1480-1482), each of which can be traversed vertically to reach the floor of the ducal residence. The fortress was protected by a moat, which today has been organized as a garden.
In front of the entrance you can see the oldest part of the fortress: the base of the medieval coastal tower. The arches on the right wall were built by Cardinal Albornoz (1363-1367); the highest date back to the fortress built by Malatesta in the 1400s. On the left side of the courtyard are the elegant Renaissance residences designed by Luciano Laurana. In 1631, when the fortress returned under the Papal States, it assumed the role of a prison. Inside a well, he holds a barn, warehouses and fireplaces, papal prisons, a spiral staircase, gun holes and trapdoors.
Today it is a visitable cultural institution, open every day, also used for temporary exhibitions, events and film shoots.
Polo Museale delle Marche
Piazza Rinascimento, 13 - 61029 Urbino
Tel: 0722 2760
Fax: 0722 4427
Email: pm-mar@beniculturali.it
