Mercatello sul Metauro (

Romagnol Romagnol ( or ; it, romagnolo) is a Romance languages, Romance language spoken in the historical region of Romagna, consisting mainly of the southeastern part of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The name is derived from the Lombard language, Lombard name ...

: ''Mercatèl'') is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

, located about west of Ancona and about southwest of

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

. Economy is mostly based on agriculture and sheep husbandry.

History

Mercatello is known as a settlement of the Umbri in the 12th century BC. Later it was conquered by the ancient Romans; destroyed during the barbaric invasions, it was rebuilt by the Lombards in the 6th century as Pieve d'Ico. First under Città di Castello and

Massa Trabaria Massa may refer to: Places * Massa, Tuscany, the administrative seat of the Italian province of Massa-Carrara. *Massa (river), river in Switzerland * Massa (Tanzanian ward), administrative ward in the Mpwapwa district of the Dodoma Region of T ...

(9th century), it was turned into an autonomous fortified commune in 1235 by Pope Gregory IX. In 1437 it was annexed to the Duchy of Urbino; in 1636 it became part of the Papal States.

Main sights

* '' Pieve Collegiata'' (with walls from the original 10th century Romanesque edifice), rebuilt in 1363. *

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church of St. Francis (13th century), with a notable collection of paintings from the 12th to 17th centuries (including a portrait of

Federico III da Montefeltro Federico da Montefeltro, also known as Federico III da Montefeltro KG (7 June 1422 – 10 September 1482), was one of the most successful mercenary captains (''condottieri'') of the Italian Renaissance, and lord of Urbino from 1444 (as Duke fr ...

attributed to Benedetto da Maiano or Francesco di Giorgio Martini). * Ducal Palace (15th century), also attributed to Francesco di Giorgio Matrini * ''Palazzaccio'' (16th century).

References

Cities and towns in the Marche {{Marche-geo-stub