Beautiful hilltop Urbino, Italy

CURT LEVIANT AND ERIKA PFEIFER LEVIANT

There are so many places in Italy that a traveler should see but, alas, doesn’t know about them and so he goes to the usual sites that everyone knows. Nothing wrong with that – for the “usual” sites have over the centuries become canonized, and rightly so. That said, there are places less well known that are stunning, and one example is Urbino, in north central Italy.

We usually travel by rail, finding it the most convenient, swift, reliable and inexpensive way of getting from one town to another. For Urbino, however, we had to take a bus – the terminal was just next to the Pesaro railway station – for no rail lines extend up into the hills of this famous town.

For about an hour, up, up, up we went, reveling in the gorgeous green and beige countryside that unfolded around us and beneath us until we reached Urbino, known for its great art, its fine university, and for it being the finest example of a Renaissance town in Italy.

The main attractions of this compact, walled city, with its up and down streets, are the huge, art-filled palace of the famous Duke Federico (who one always sees in portraits in profile), the large church next door, the artist Raphael’s house and a small central square bustling with young people. For a visitor interested in Urbino’s Jewish aspects, there is also the no-longer-existent synagogue from the Renaissance period and the extant shul, temporarily closed for major repairs.

When we asked one of the knowledgeable curators at the ducal palace about the former synagogue, he showed us exactly where it had been: right across the street. He took us into the small courtyard of a building now used by the university, pointed out where the mikvah and the oven for matzah baking had once stood and where the woman’s gallery had once been. The entrance lane to this Renaissance synagogue, which had “disappeared” more than 150 years ago, has been sealed off. Now, a small narrow shop stands there. The fact that an alley had once been there – called Jews’ Street – was obvious, for this little shop was just one storey high and seemed to be squeezed in between two higher buildings.

It was understandable, said the curator, that the synagogue would be right across the street from the ducal palace because, in the 16th century, the duke was the protector of the Jews, some of whom were in banking and lent money to Duke Federico for his military excursions; in other words, a perfect symbiotic relationship. But the duke’s friendly attitude to the Jews – he also had Hebrew books and manuscripts in his library – was criticized, both by his wife and the antisemitic Franciscan monks, who felt he was betraying the Catholic religion.

The extant synagogue was down below, near the main entrance gate to the walled city. Built much later, in 1633, it is located in the old Jewish quarter. We had wanted to see this sanctuary but were told that, because of ongoing construction it was too dangerous to visit now. However, through the kind help of the Urbino tourist office, we were fortunate to be introduced to the synagogue’s caretaker and historian, Maria Luisa Moscati, who invited us to her house.

We walked to her big villa, set in a great garden just outside the city walls, on a hill with a view of the vast countryside below. The elegant and erudite Mrs. Moscati, author of several articles and books on the history of the Jewish community of Urbino, told us that, now, only a few Jews live in Urbino, but the Moscati family traces its roots there back to the 14th century.

In 1943, when the Germans entered Urbino, about 40 Jews resided there; since they had many friends in the region, all were safely hidden in the countryside. However, a year later, the Germans caught and deported seven foreign Jewish refugees and one Italian Jew. This event is commemorated in Urbino on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, by the now small Jewish community.

Mrs. Moscati also showed us a photo of a big ceremony at the synagogue in 2010 for the return of a restored Torah, which would rejoin the 27 others in the aron kodesh. Rabbis and cantors from all over Italy were among the 150 people present for this celebration. As she spoke, we noticed a photo of her grandson’s bar mitzvah and piles of Hebrew Bibles and prayer books on the floor next to her easy chair. At present, there are three three-generation Jewish families in Urbino. However, since there is no minyan of Jews here, for the High Holidays, they attend the synagogue in nearby Ancona.

Our hotel, the San Domenico, was ideally situated, within walking distance of every site we wanted to visit. In this former monastery that had been converted to a luxury hostelry, the San Domenico staff was helpful and the buffet breakfast was a memorable feast. During our lovely strolls through town, we discovered a wonderful vegetarian restaurant, the Ristorante Mensa Punto Macrobiotico, just a block away from the main square, at Via Posso Nouvo 4, where they served delicious and healthful meals at a very moderate price.

Walk to the edge of town and enjoy the splendid vista of the countryside below. Even if you just wander around, you will find fascinating streets and beautiful old buildings. If you are tired of walking and want to get an overview of Urbino, get on the newly installed hop on-hop off “little train” that takes riders to several points of interest in town.

We got to Urbino in a roundabout fashion, taking advantage of a great deal with the all-business class airline OpenSkies, which flies from Newark, N.J., to Paris. In the French capital, we spent some time at the fabulous Le Meurice, one of the world’s première hotels, after which we took the swift TGV to Biarritz. A few glorious days at the renowned ocean-side hostelry, the palatial Hotel du Palais, relaxed us prior to our rail journey to Italy.

For the lowest costs on the rails, we used the money-saving Eurail Pass, which can be gotten by visiting raileurope.com or calling 1-888-382-7245. For local trains, no reservations are needed but, for the high-speed trains, a reservation is mandatory.

Curt Leviant’s most recent long fiction is A Novel of Klass. Erika Leviant writes travel articles and essays on art for various publications. Photographer Leora Chefitz is a senior at Goucher College majoring in psychology and art.

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