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00 Recanati
Stemma di Recanati

Marche · Macerata

Recanati

The hill town overlooking the Musone valley toward the Adriatic.

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
43 min from Ancona
Population
20,679

Known for

  • LEOPARDI

    The poet was born here in 1798 and wrote L'Infinito and the Canti from the family palace and the hill behind it.

  • BENIAMINO GIGLI

    The tenor was born in Recanati in 1890; the Teatro Persiani holds the permanent museum of his costumes, scores and dressing room.

  • LORENZO LOTTO

    The Museo Civico Villa Colloredo Mels holds Lotto's Annunciation and other works from his Marche years in the early sixteenth century.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J10°
  • F13°
  • M14°
  • A17°
  • M22°
  • J28°
  • J31°
  • A30°
  • S25°
  • O21°
  • N15°
  • D11°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: San Vito, 15 June

Why come

Recanati sits on a hill between the Potenza and Musone valleys, twenty-five kilometers south of Ancona and ten from the Adriatic. The town was founded around 1150 from the union of three earlier castles, Monte Morello, Monte San Vito and Monte Volpino, declared itself a free republic in 1290 and ran an international fair through the fifteenth century. The poet lived above Piazza Sabato del Villaggio in the family library until 1822, and the hill behind the palace, hedge-bordered and looking toward the Sibillini and the sea, is the ground the writing came from; the medieval tower nearby, part of the Sant'Agostino complex, gave a later poem its perch.

A tenor born in the same town more than half a century afterward is remembered a short distance away, his costumes and scores kept where the theater still stands. What the hill town adds up to is a place small enough that a library, a hedge, and a tower could hold a life's landscape, and specific enough that the view from each still matches what was written about it.

The Sunday letter

Recanati is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Recanati comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Recanati in our articles

How to get there

From Ancona / Pescara (AOI), about 48 minutes by car.

Rimini (RMI) is about 1h 51m away.

By car from the centre of Ancona 43 minutes or Pescara 1h 47m.

Every town within reach of Ancona / Pescara airport.

Recanati, photo 1
Recanati, photo 2

What to see

  • Palazzo Leopardi

    Eighteenth-century family palace where Giacomo Leopardi lived until 1822, with the preserved library of more than 20,000 volumes he read as a boy.

  • Colle dell'Infinito

    Hedge-bordered hill behind the palace, its panorama across the Musone valley toward the Sibillini and the Adriatic is what the hedge in the poem blocks from view.

  • Torre del Passero Solitario

    Thirteenth-century tower at the Sant'Agostino complex, the highest point of the centro storico, its silence is what gave Leopardi's solitary sparrow its perch.

  • Museo Beniamino Gigli

    Permanent collection inside the Teatro Persiani, with costumes, scores and a reconstructed dressing room of the tenor born in Recanati in 1890.

  • Museo Civico Villa Colloredo Mels

    Civic museum in a sixteenth-century villa, holding the Annunciation, the Madonna and Saints altarpiece and other works from the artist's Marche years.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Recanati fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

We recommend

Where to eat

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

  • Casa BertiniRistorante

    Casa Bertini holds one Michelin star and two Gambero Rosso forks (82/100).

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

  • Le Grazie in Festapatron saint's feast

    usually held in September. TrovaSagre

  • Recanati, 24 società sportive in centro storico per la Festa dello Sportpatron saint's feast

    usually held in September. Picchio News - Eventi (Macerata)

Living here

  • Population 20,679
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Nearest airport Ancona / Pescara, 48 min drive
  • Market day Saturday
  • Regional capital Ancona, 43 min drive

Common questions

What is Recanati known for?
Recanati is the hill town at 296 meters overlooking the Musone valley toward the Adriatic.
Where is Recanati?
Recanati is a comune in the province of Macerata, in Marche.
What is the nearest airport to Recanati?
Ancona / Pescara (AOI), about 48 minutes by car.
How long is the drive from Ancona to Recanati?
About 43 minutes by car.
When is the best time to visit Recanati?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Recanati?
Yes. Le Grazie in Festa and Recanati, 24 società sportive in centro storico per la Festa dello Sport. September is when the first of them falls.
Which other towns are like Recanati?
Monteprandone, Magione and Corciano.
How many people live in Recanati?
20,679 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 296 m
  • Population: 20,679
  • Surface area: 103.46 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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