The small hill town of Urbino, in the Marche, experienced a great cultural flowering in the 15th century, attracting artists and scholars from all over Italy and beyond, and influencing cultural developments elsewhere in Europe. Owing to its economic and cultural stagnation from the 16th century onwards, it has preserved its Renaissance appearance to a remarkable extent. (whc.unesco.org/en/list/828)

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The small Italian hill town of Urbino became, for a short time during the Renaissance era, one of the major cultural centres of Europe. Today, the historic centre is defined by its Renaissance walls that survive virtually intact, complete with bastions. Within these walls, several buildings of extraordinary quality have been retained such as the Ducal Palace, the cathedral, the Monastery of Santa Chiara and a complex system of oratories.[youtube]V4I_Q_Ie3jY[/youtube]

The initial nucleus of the city evolved from a fortified Roman settlement dating from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. The Romans built on the top of the hill where the Ducal Palace now stands and until the 11th century, the city remained within these limits. At the end of that century, its urban expansion required the construction of a new system of defensive walls. In the mid 15th century, Federico da Montefeltro undertook a radical rebuilding campaign within these original walls without disturbing the overall urban structure. The city was later further expanded to a second hill lying to the north, giving the area, now enclosed by the Renaissance walls an elongated outline.

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