Welcome to Marche!
Marche (or the Marches) is a central region of Italy on the east coast composed of rolling hills and fertile plains at the base of the Apennine mountains. It is bordered by Adriatic Sea in the east, Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio in the west, Emilia-Romagna and San Marino to the north, Abruzzo to the south.
Beautiful Adriatic beaches and ancient towns perched on hilltops, or nestled deep between rolling farmland, give travelers to the Marches a real taste of central Italy.
Two main highways traveling along the coast facilitate transportation to the larger cities of this and other regions. One of the most valuable parts of the Marches lure is driving through the interior, visiting smaller towns and exploring areas where there are virtually no tourists.
The Marche has become a buzz word in Britain and a expat destination for vacation home buying. It has been compared to Tuscany as having all the attributes, with none of the hassles of high prices and large crowds.
Marche is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is referred to as The Marches. The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the north, Tuscany to the west, Umbria to the southwest, Abruzzo and Lazio to the south and the Adriatic Sea to the east. Except for river valleys and the often very narrow coastal strip, the land is hilly.
A railway from Bologna to Brindisi, built in the 19th century, runs along the coast of the entire territory. Inland, the mountainous nature of the region, even today, allows relatively little travel north and south, except by twisting roads over the passes. Urbino, one of the major cities of the region, was the birthplace of Raphael, as well as a major centre of Renaissance history.