Historic Centre of Urbino

Under Duke Federico da Montefeltro, the hill town of Urbino briefly outshone far larger cities: its 15th-century court drew painters, mathematicians and humanists whose ideas rippled across Europe, and Raphael was born in a street below the ducal palace. Economic decline after the 16th century froze the town in its Renaissance form, which is precisely why UNESCO inscribed the historic centre in 1998 — a walled Marche masterpiece on the World Heritage List, preserved almost by accident.