"È la città d'Urbino molto civile et assai honorevole d'edifici": (It is Urbino, a most noble city honoured with admirable buildings). This is how a sixteenth century scholar described the characteristics and peculiarities of a city which during that period experienced a cultural and political effervescence. As can be witnessed by its visitors, this is a description which wholly summarises the image of Urbino today.
The city preserves an intact historic and urbanistic patrimony which has its origins in the Renaissance. At the same time it is a modern cultural centre of an international standard. Intentionally we have not gone back to the ancient origins of the city which was a Roman town known as "Urvinum Mataurense and before that a settlement of Celtic and Umbrian populations. Indeed it was Federico of Montefeltro the enlightened prince of the fifteenth century who, with his ingenius political and cultural initiatives, transformed an anonymous and harsh land into a historically well-defined territory. Therefore a person wishing to better understand Italian civilisation should not overlook the history of Urbino.

URBINO, old capital of the Dukedom, is located on a hill between the Foglia and Metauro rivers. It is sheltered from the west by the Appenine Range and faces an easterly direction toward the Adriatic Sea. In this location Federico conceived his dream of constructing a State organised upon rationality. As a physical symbol of the State, the prince devised a work of architecture which is the synthesis of the new humanistic idea.
Instead of a castle anchored to the old military principles of attack and defense, he thought of a palace open to the circulation of people and ideas. Thus a palace of solid structure with external harmonious slenderness and functional interiors was built. The palace assumed the form of a city and soon after, as can be deduced from the wonderful pages of the 'Cortegiano' by Baldassar Castiglione, became the privileged centre for a new model of civilisation.

The Severity of the place inspired the Dalmation architect, Luciano Laurana, to adopt the courageous solution of the rising towers which on the western facade look toward Tuscany thus posing an ideal link with the cradle of the Rennaissance.
The two agile and elegant towers represent a magic contrast to the massive fortress of Albornoz (erected in the fourteenth century with an evident military purpose) from whose ramparts it is possible to glimpse a suggestive panorama of the city with its palaces, its houses, and the numerous windows which open onto the surrounding nature.

The fusion of the urban dwellings with the landscape is also present on the eastern side of the palace with its unique winged facade. The huge main entrance opens onto the perfect geometry of the Court of Honour which is the architectonic centre of the Palace and was the Centre of court life. Due to the perspective illusion created by the columns and agile arches of the porticos it is an eminent example of harmony, volume and space.
From the Court of Honour the specific chambers of public activity could be accessed, for example, the Dukes library (formerly home of the beautiful illuminated manuscripts of Federico) which has recently been opened to the public. In the eastern rooms of the ground floor the Museo Archeologico Urbinale (Museum of Archaeology of Urbino) known also as "Lapidario" has recently been established. In numerous epigraphs, urns, inscribed pillars and many other fascinating objects it are preserved originating from the collection gathered in the eighteenth century by Cardinal Legato Giovan Francesco Stoppani. The last section of the palace has recently been opened to the public and consists of a series of underground chambers.

Each chamber is unique in having a particular function and this characteristic is valid for the rooms in the nobiliary floors of the Palace. From the Court of Honour a sloping ramp leads directly to the underground chambers: the horse training stable traditionally called Maneggio; the stables; la Neviera a cone-shaped room into which snow was deposited from the garden above, and used as a cool room for preserving food; the kitchens and the Dukes baths, with complex systems for heating water and disposing of refuse. The enormous rooms of the nobiliary floors represent the undisputed supremacy of light and harmony. They are the symbol of a time when Urbino was the focal point of scientific and mathematic humanism, of which Piero della Francesca is a famous example.

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