san severino marche
 
Twelve kilometres north of Tolentino lies the old, silvery-grey town of SAN SEVERINO MARCHE , a pretty little place whose modern centre converges on an unusual elliptical square, Piazza del Popolo , surrounded by porticoes. Just above the piazza on Via Salimbeni the town's art gallery, known as the Pinacoteca Tacchi - Venturi after a local historian (July-Sept Tues-Sun 9am-1pm & 4.30-6.30pm; Oct-June Tues-Sat 9am-1pm plus alternate Sundays 9am-1pm; L4000/¬2.06), is as good a reason as any for a visit, with a quite memorable assembly of pieces. A gilded polyptych of saints by Paolo Veneziano is followed by an even more sumptuous altarpiece by Vittore Crivelli, which centres on a china-doll Madonna weighed down in heavy gold embroidery. It's the frame that really catches your eye, though - an opulent confection of scalloped arches topped with urns from which spring gesticulating ecclesiastics. Other highlights are the works by the Salimbeni brothers, who were born and worked in San Severino in the fifteenth century; they are represented by delicate and expressive frescoes detached from local churches and a wooden polyptych of The Marriage of St Catherine . In the same building is the Museo Archeologico , (July-Sept Tues-Sun 9am-1pm & 4.30-6.30pm; Oct-June Tues-Sat 9am-1pm plus alternate Sundays 9am-1pm; L4000/¬2.06), with relics from the Roman valley town of Septempeda, whose inhabitants, driven out by barbarian invasions in the sixth century, escaped up the nearest hill to found the forerunner of San Severino.

Other works by the Salimbeni brothers adorn two of San Severino's churches. One of these, the ancient San Lorenzo in Doĺolo , at the top of Via Salimbeni, looks slightly odd thanks to a medieval brick tower standing on top of its stone portal. The Salimbeni frescoes, illustrating the story of St Andrew, are on the vault of the tenth-century crypt, looking far older and more primitive than they really are because of their antique surroundings; the back part of the crypt is thought to be a pagan temple dating back to the time of the refugees from Septempeda.

The other church - actually the old cathedral - is up in CASTELLO , the upper part of San Severino, a long and steep walk - although there are occasional buses from the main square. A lonely, evocative place, it was here that the Romans from Septempeda came, though as Castello continued to be the hub of religious and political life until the eighteenth century, any traces of them have long been covered over. Close to its thirteenth-century walls, sheltered by a Gothic portico, is the Fontana dei Sette Canelle , a seven-spouted fountain where you'll occasionally see women doing their washing. Right at the top, dwarfed by the medieval Torre del Comune, is the Duomo Vecchio , founded in the tenth century but with a Romanesque-Gothic facade, simple Gothic cloisters, and a much rebuilt interior. Not surprisingly, it's lost a bit of atmosphere with all these reconstructions, but the baptistry vault still has its Salimbeni frescoes. Also worth a look are the inlaid choir stalls and tomb of the town's patron, St Severinus.

For a congenial place to stay in San Severino, head for the Due Torri , Via San Francesco 21 (tel 0733.645.419, duetorri@wnt.it ; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98), high above town in the Castello; spotless bedrooms in an old stone wing with green shutters, tiled floors and simple furnishings. There's a popular restaurant attached, which doubles as a shop, selling local delicacies, wines and spirits.