POSITION

The region of the Marche is located in the centre of  the Italian peninsula, bounded by the Apennine mountains on the west and the Adriatic sea on the east, the Conca and Marecchia rivers on the north and the river Tronto on the south. With its 504 km of borders and 173 km of coastline, the region covers an area of 9694 square kilometres, representing 2,3 percent of Italian territors. Marche is a “high” region: 31 percent of the land is classified as mountainous and 68 percent as hilly, while the remaining flat land, along the rivers and coast, covers a mere 10 percent of the land area. The Marche is also one of the geologically “young” regions and therefore still settling. This is why earthquakes are not rare occurrences. And yet, in its uniformity, the geography of the Marche offers some atypical factor that make it one of the most unusual regions of the entire peninsula, studded with rapidly chancing microenvironments.

  THE LAND

The land of Marche is divided into three distinct longitudinal strips: the mountainous strip, the hilly strip and the coastal strip. The first two occupy almost 90 percent of the region’s land mass, while the remaining 10 percent lies along the coast. Flat land is almost nonexistent and limited to the score areas. The hills, in fact, reach almost to the water along much of the 173 km of shoreline. This hill-shore combination assumes heavy, even savage, proportion in the case of mount Conero, a limestone mass rising above the coast near Ancona. The Apennine strip is characterized by two roughly parallel backbones in the north and south. The former is dominated by mounts Catria and Nerone, while the latter is typically alpine in nature and straddles the two provinces of Ascoli Piceno and Macerata. This latter backbone includes the highest peaks in the region: Vettore (2478m), Porche, Redentore, Diavolo, Sibillla, Pizzo Berro and Priora, over 2000m high. Between the sea and the Apennines these is a fairly uniform belt of hills.

Geographically, Marche can be divided into three sub-regional zones:

• Northern Marche, which covers the group of valleys from the river Foglia to the river Rubiano.
• Central Marche, which covers the group of valleys from the river Esino to the river   Chienti.
• Southern Marche, which covers the group of valleys from the river Tenna to the river Tronto.

  The highlands are interspersed by rivers that generally flow from southwest to northeast, almost perpendicular to the mountain backbones. The slow deposition of the rivers, especially in the middle and lower part of their courses, has created a series of alluvial plains.

  RIVER AND LAKES

Rivers and torrents of various lengths cut trough the Marchigian valleys, following an almost identical parallel path from southwest to northeast, originating in the mountain ridges of the Apennine backbone and emptying into the Adriatic Sea. The valleys modelled by the incessant action of the rivers  have always been of great importance for the populations of the Marche: this is where the most important human and industrial settlements have development. In the land area between the two rivers drawing the natural  and administrative confines of the Marche, the Foglia (135 km long) and the Tronto (115 km long), are located the Metauro (120 km long) and the other smaller flows: the Cesano, the Esino,  the Musone, the Potenza, the Chienti, the Tenn and the Aso. The rivers characterize the region geographically while the presence of lakes is much less marked, reaching their maximum expression in lake Pilato, of glacial origin, located at an elevation of 1954 m. The other smaller lakes of the Marche are artificial in origin: the lakes of Grazie and Caccamo. In a picturesque setting, at the foot of the Sibillini is Lake Fiastra; Lake Tavecchia is near Ascoli Piceno, Furlo basin, Lake Andreuccio and Lake Villagrande near Pesaro.

  THE COASTLINE

The influence of the sea is limited to the coastal strip, associated for years now with massive summer tourist activity along the shore. The Marche is essentially a rural region of mountains and hills rather than a maritime region, but it is equally true that the sea is deeply rooted in the life and work of the populations that live along the coast. The 173 km of coastline, strewn with beach resorts that have been popular tourist maces for ever a century, is rather heterogeneous, with sections of rock, pebbles and fine sand. Proceeding from the north, one has the sensation of passing through different environment: Gabicce Mare boast a short stretch of sandy beach, which a few kilometres later gives way to the promontory of Gabicce Mare and its characteristic small beaches and rocky cliffs. Near Pesaro the coast becomes wide and sandy. Sand and rock again alternate in the 70 km separating Pesaro from Ancona. Just south of Ancona the Conero promontory interrupts the lineary of the shoreline. The landscape undergoes a radical transformation, becoming harsher and highly picturesque with coves and inlets for around 20 km. Conero divided the coast into two section: south of the promontory the shore regains its uniformity down to San Benedetto del Tronto, the city that marks the border with Abruzzo. Again in this section the shore in characterized by broad beaches of fine sand, interrupted in a few points by gravel. The entire land area of the Marche is of considerable scientific interest because the age, structure and composition of its rocks. This explains the interest in speleology and activities related to the study of karts phenomena. Significant examples are the majestic grottos of Frasasi and the grottos of Mounth Nerone. Depending on the variety and permeability of the rock formations, the underground waters excavate roads, form caverns and then proceed in other directions. The grottos of Frasasi near the old abbey of San Vitorio delle Chiuse are one of the finest examples of this underground water sculpture, with their Grand Grotto of the Wind, 120 meters tall, and the tunnels extending for kilometres with astonishing, ever-varying karst manifestations.

  CLIMATE

A highly heterogeneous region from the standpoint of land conformations, the Marche lacks a uniform climate. The average temperature varies from 14°C to 16°C, considering the 3°C-8°C in January and the 21°C-26°C to July. The are three climatic zones: the interior, along the Apennines; the coastal, along the Adriatic Sea and the hilly zone, typical of the broad band linking mountains to sea. The entire region is exposed to winds of strong intensity, their penetration being favoured by the moderate height of the peaks, especially when the north-easterly winds (bora), more moderate that the summer winds, are blowing in the interior.