Why Senigallia? We’ve been asked this question a lot – both here in Italy and back home from family and friends as we were planning our trip. Well, why is this city even here in the first place? Just like New Orleans on the Mississippi river, Senigallia sits at the bend of the Misa River just off the Adriatic coast, so it’s a perfect location to defend against enemy naval attacks. The first structure built here was the fortress. It was built in the 1360’s, first a single tower, then a second forming a wall to defend the city from invasions from both up and down the Misa, and finally 2 more towers were added in the late 1400’s to protect against Turkish land-based raids, giving the fortress its distinctive shape.
The fortress has since taken on several roles: a military training school, a prison during the pontifical era, a hospital during WWII, and today is used for exhibits and cultural events. Tours are only €2 and include 22 stops along the route with descriptions in both Italian and English. Almost every area of the fortress is opened to the public and the tour takes you through all 4 towers, the residence, courtyard, and every tiny little pocket within the walls of the fortress.
We started our day with gelato. We finally found a gelateria that makes what I would consider top rate gelato. Puro & Bio is located just off the main strada in the center of Senigallia. The shop is immaculate. They offer gelati, sorbetti, and even rice-based gelati for those unfortunate few who are lactose intolerant. They also have a display case filled with beautiful cakes.
We started our day with gelato. We finally found a gelateria that makes what I would consider top rate gelato. Puro & Bio is located just off the main strada in the center of Senigallia. The shop is immaculate. They offer gelati, sorbetti, and even rice-based gelati for those unfortunate few who are lactose intolerant. They also have a display case filled with beautiful cakes.
Our next stop was lunch. There’s a small cafeteria-style eatery that serves up homemade pasta, pizza, and a bunch of other items. We've eaten there once before. This time I ordered the gnocchi and Cinzia had penne with mushrooms. Delicious! Now we were ready to tour the fortress.
The fortress is located off the main piazza. We snapped a few photos and then headed inside.
As you might imagine, the fortress was made of rock and bricks – lots of rock and bricks. Designers had to take into account ventilation (both for air and temperature control) as well as chimneys for all of the fireplaces and ovens needed to support a self-sustained military as well as the Duke and his family. Small rooms, vent shafts, and stairs seemed to be scattered throughout the fortress, making for a wonderful maze for a game of hide and seek.
The spiral staircase leading up the first tower was impressive. Each step was set into the wall with the next laid upon it. Many of the doorways were tiny – even for Cinzia.
One room had a model of the fortress made to scale using several different types of woods to realistically represent the stone and brick work. The views from the 4 towers gave a commanding panorama of Senigallia, the Misa, and the coastline (you just have to imaging all those hotels and other buildings weren’t there in the 1300’s and 1400’s).
After an hour or so we emerged from the fortress tour and snapped a few other photos. The fortress originally had a moat, fed with water from the Misa, but today is drained.
We took the long way home stopping at a cheese shop to pick up a fresh ball of burrata for dinner. At the Conad grocery we grabbed some prosciutto, a baguette, drinks, and cookies before getting back to our apartment. Cinzia cut the melon we got at the market the day before and I topped it with prosciutto. She cut up the little plum tomatoes, added salt and some extra virgin olive oil, and I sliced the burrata in half. Add a crusty baguette and that’s dinner. The melon was sweet and went perfectly with the salty-sweet savory prosciutto. The creamy burrata and red ripe tomatoes were fantastic and we used chunks of the crusty baguette cleaned the bowl. Now that’s a dinner even one of my sister’s could “arrange” – no cooking involved.