Touring routes

Tolentino · Macerata · Marche

On the plain to the left of the River Chienti, about 7 kilometres from Tolentino, stands the imposing and picturesque Castello della Rancia. It was rebuilt in the 14th century on the remains of an earlier Cistercian “grancia”, or granary. The structure we see today dates from 1357, when Rodolfo Varano, lord of Camerino, commissioned it on the site of an old tower house occupied by a minor feudal lord. Rodolfo’s aim was to create a fortified farm modelled on the Cistercian “grance” — hence the name — belonging to nearby Abbadia di Fiastra.

The Castello della Rancia, with its crenellated walls and two corner towers, may once have been surrounded by a moat crossed by a drawbridge. Over the centuries it witnessed many battles involving Giovanni Acuto, Lando, Braccio da Montone, Nicolò Piccinino and Francesco Sforza. A key date was 31 March 1815, when Joachim Murat, King of Naples, issued the Rimini Proclamation, considered the first manifesto of Italian independence. He occupied Tuscany, the Marche and Romagna, but the numerical superiority of Austrian forces compelled him, after initial victories, to retreat slowly south. Tolentino was chosen as the battlefield because it was the natural point at which to keep the two Austrian armies — Marshal Bianchi’s and General Neipperg’s — as far apart as possible. The castle was the scene of the battle on 2 and 3 May 1815, when Austrian troops under General Bianchi defeated Joachim Murat, King of Naples, who was attempting to unify Italy, in what has been called the first battle of the Italian Risorgimento. The various stages of the battle are re-enacted in early May by hundreds of participants, organised by the “Tolentino ’815” association.

A14 motorway; from Civitanova Marche, take the expressway towards Rome. The original text places the castle about 6 km before Tolentino.