Dear Els Slots,

This is one review I never thought I would write, enthusiastic as I am about this city, concerned that it maintain the atmosphere that I enjoyed so much during a four-day stay in 1996, and not eager to see it ovewhelmed with people who would not appreciate it, including the elegant and friendly bar I happened upon. The friend I was with and I agreed that we would tell no one about this place. I know you will understand. However, since it is on your site, I will say something about it.

As long as I have known who Rafael of Urbino was, it did not dawn on me that this would be the same place, when I drove down from Ravenna to Pesaro (wonderful lunch there) and up to Urbino. It is the home of the invisible University, housed as it is in the existing monasteries and other church buildings from its magnificent past.

I found Raphael's home, and could imagine the charmed life he must have lived there, the youth and adolescence he experienced until he attained something like adulthood, such a short adulthood. I had never known before what it would have been like to be an Italian aristocrat of the Renaissance. I know now.

The chapel of San Giovanni contains one of the most striking and effective frescoes I have ever seen; called "curious" in Michelin, but much more than merely curious. That fresco is worth a trip to Italy. The chapel is on Via San Giovanni; there is a path from Via S.G. to the lower town with an unforgettable view of the Palazzo Ducale in the distance.

The Palace of the Duke is something out of one's dreams of medieval fairytale; and the exquisite chapel will be a complete surprise to everyone who visits. One just does not expect such subtle taste and simplicity from someone as powerful as a Duke. Maybe it was his daughter's idea - if he had daughters.

But the city is much more than this or that monument; it is a center of learning resting among the clouds, the thousands of students coming over from their residences in a neighboring hill-town to merge into the urban landscape of Urbino like so many beautiful children on holiday. Urbino is a haven for the wanderer, the stoller, the person who will not fail to look down and explore every alley along the way, from alleys with dead ends to alleys with miracles of beauty around the last corner.

I never wanted to leave. This was home. I trod lightly, enjoying the fun of the place and the beautiful elegance of the place in awe and respect. It was the ultimate rest of any trip I have ever made, with all the fun and excitement of a university town. Unique, in all likelihood.

Urbino is most of all a haven for peace. One afternoon I was resting in the room, getting ready everntually to go out for an evening stroll, and I sensed the aromas of the restaurant kitchen downstairs. It was the perfection of scent. I was looking out the window across the courtyard to the windows on the other side, and this exceptional treat for the nostrils entered the room. It was utterly peaceful, the only sound an occasional word or two from the kitchen. It was a perpetual Saturday afternoon with an exciting evening ahead. All of Urbino was waiting outside; all the elegant countryside waiting around this city on a hill; and above it the ranks of angels and others of their kind - should any of them exist, it is here that they would exist - and above that either the aether of the empyrean or - and it is fine by me - the genial spirit that built all of this.

There are several pictures of the city at Leverdujour.

Thank you for this site; I will enjoy exploring it very much.