Baldassarre Castiglione called it "a city in the form of a palace": the Ducal Palace of Urbino, willed by Federico da Montefeltro — the condottiero with the Renaissance's most famous profile — is the manifesto of court humanism. In its courtyards Laurana drew harmony itself, and today the National Gallery of the Marche keeps here some of the most enigmatic paintings ever made.
What to see
The Ideal City, perfect architecture without a single human, almost the logo of the Renaissance; Piero della Francesca's Flagellation, the small panel entire books are written about; Raphael's La Muta — he was born in Urbino a few steps away; and the duke's studiolo, the little room of wooden inlays simulating bookshelves and instruments — the fifteenth century's most refined optical lie. The façade's twin turrets are best admired from the Mercatale road.
Visiting
Two hours for palace and gallery on a single ticket. Urbino is a living university town: add Raphael's birthplace and the climb to the Albornoz fortress for the turret skyline at sunset.
Getting there
Urbino has no railway: buses from Pesaro (an hour, timed with Adriatic trains) or car. Park at Borgo Mercatale, then the helical ramp or escalators climb to the centre.
Our editors' tip
Give the Flagellation ten minutes and try the question of centuries: who are the three men in the foreground? No one truly knows, and that is the gift. Then find the studiolo's squirrel hidden in the inlay: spotting it is a small Urbino initiation rite.