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Visit Jesi

Jesi (aka Iesi) is in the centre of the Le Marche region of Italy, inland from Ancona. Set among the hills and vineyards of the region, Jesi is best known for it's medieval centre and the sturdy walls and towers that surround the town, defensive fortifications dating from its 14th century heyday as centre of a small independent state.

The old town, laid out along a raised ridge, is well preserved and the most interesting part if the town with several interesting palaces and buildings to admire, and is a very pleasant town to explore when visiting this region of Italy.

The visit to Jesi can start from the “Piazza Federico II”, where, according to tradition, the Emperor of Swabia was born. The “Frederick II Square” is the oldest in Jesi - it is located where the city's Roman Forum once stood, and it is also the largest and most representative; its location, on top of the hill and in the medieval centre, includes the most important buildings of the city, where the market is still held and has become the focus in recent years for various important functions and cultural activities, such as museums and libraries.

Jesi cathedral

In the area where, probably in Roman times, there was a pagan temple, the first cathedral of Jesi was erected, called “San Settimio” after the founder of Church. The cathedral was rebuilt in 1741 with a nave and large spherical dome, with the transept in neoclassical style, while the new bell-tower was erected in the eighteenth century. The cathedral was finally completed in the second half of the nineteenth century. Inside, it retains two “columniferous” lions (XIII century), which were originally placed before the main entrance of the ancient Romanesque-Gothic cathedral and some works by Filippo Bellini (1550-1604), Gaetano Lapis (1706-1758) and Cristoforo Unterperger (1732-1798).

The old town of Jesi is enclosed in a walled city built on Roman foundations and dating from the Middle Ages (XIII - XIV century), though renovated several times during the Renaissance. A very important intervention in this regard was made in the fifteenth century by the architect Baccio Pontelli (1450-1492). The walls are massive and interspersed with gates and towers; the most striking of these is surely the Tower of “Montirozzo”.

Churches of Jesi

Of great interest is the Church of St. Nicholas, the oldest building in the city, the existence of which is documented from the twelfth century and restored in the second half of the twentieth century. The stylistic characteristics of the Church constitute a harmonized set of Romanesque and Gothic elements. Nearby is the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace, the result of successive enlargements made around the original oratory dedicated to Mary “Assunta” (XV century), and restored with a baroque style in the eighteenth century.

The Church of St. John the Baptist dates from the thirteenth century, but it was, however, built around the end of the sixteenth century and today is a single nave, covered by trusses. From the Lombard period is the Church of St. Peter the Apostle, with the baptismal font. It was built in Gothic style with a portico, but it was rebuilt in the eighteenth century after a destructive earthquake.

Other important highlights in Jesi

The tourist visiting the city should also see many of the mansions of the old town, among which stands out Pianetti Palace, designed in the eighteenth century by Gasparo Pianetti (1780-1862), concluded in the nineteenth century and now housing the Municipal Art Gallery, with important works by the Venetian painter Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556). Among the most expressive paintings, "The Visitation" (1530), “Annunciation”,  "Madonna with Child and Saints", "Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata" (1526), and "Saint Lucy before the Judge”. This work, which is considered by critics as one of the best proofs of the importance of Lorenzo Lotto, for its freshness and remarkable modernity, was painted by the Venetian painter in 1532 for the Confraternity of Saint Lucy, and it was once exhibited in the Church of St. Florian, dating from the eighteenth century.

Another building of great importance is the “Palazzo dei Priori” (or “della Signoria”), designed by Francesco di Giorgio Martini, and now the Civic Museum, which preserves finds dating from Roman times. Among other important museums of the city, worthy of consideration is the Diocesan Museum, located in “Palazzo Ripanti”. It keeps hundreds of works including paintings, sculptures, liturgical objects and reliquaries from the eighth and nineteenth centuries. Among these is a famous "Christ of Wood", from the Monastery of Poor Clares of Jesi. In Renaissance-style are the paintings by some artists from the Marches, as the "Madonna and Child" by Giovanni Antonio Bellinzoni da Pesaro (1415-1478) and another "Madonna and the Child", 1504, executed for Bishop Tommaso Ghislieri (from 1464 to 1505), and the “Immaculate Conception” by Antonio Sarti (1580-1647), from the Collegiate Montecarotto.

Outside the city walls, we find the Church of San Marco, built on a hill and considered the most important monument of religious architecture of Jesi and one of the most important of the Marches region.

For nature lovers, Jesi also offers interesting excursions in the immediate neighborhood, such as, for example, the “Vallesina”, which runs along the Esino River. The main feature of the territory, of which Jesi is the main town, is the series of walled villages, in good condition, which extend over the hills, known as the “Castelli di Jesi” [“Castles of Jesi”].

Linked to his history and ancient traditions, Vallesina still preserves the signs of spirituality in the ancient medieval abbeys of the territory, which has a strong agricultural vocation, producing a wine of very high quality, the "Verdicchio" of “Castelli di Jesi”, one of the most precious grapes of Italy. Visitors who stay at these places can also enjoy some traditional product of Jesi, such as cheeses and sausages, vegetables, honey, and sweet and savoury specialties.