Before Rome
The Piceni
Long before Rome, the hills around Treia belonged to the Piceni, the ancient people of Le Marche. One of their settlements stood on nearby Monte Pitino.
The Region
Between the Apennines and the Adriatic Sea.
Our village
Treia, five minutes away.
Treia rises on its hilltop behind old brick walls, a short drive from Casa Olivi. Once the Roman town of Trea, it took back the name Treia in 1790. Today it is a town of narrow lanes, archways and palazzi, the home of the bracciale, and the town where the writer Dolores Prato grew up.
A writer from Treia
Dolores Prato
Born in Rome in 1892, Dolores Prato grew up in Treia. Almost ninety, she finished Giù la piazza non c’è nessuno (“Down in the square there’s no one”), her memoir of a childhood in the town, now considered a classic of Italian literature and translated into French, German and Dutch.
Walk in her footsteps: a guided visit of Dolores Prato’s Treia can be arranged on request through our concierge.
The Region
Le Marche, Italy’s best-kept secret.
Rolling hills, market towns and one-street villages, between the Apennines and the Adriatic Sea. Shop at the fish market in Treia, then cook your finds in the kitchen at home.
Treia, medieval hill town5 min
Macerata & its open-air opera20 min
Monte Conero & the Adriatic Sea1 hour
Ancona airport50 min
Bologna airport2 h 30
Local Specialities
What to taste in Le Marche.
Extra virgin olive oilGreen and peppery, from our own grove.
Olive all’ascolanaStuffed, breaded and fried, from Ascoli.
VincisgrassiMacerata’s rich baked pasta.
CiauscoloA soft, spreadable salami.
Farmhouse cheesesFrom estates such as Trionfi Honorati.
BrodettoThe Adriatic fish stew.
TrufflesBlack in summer, white in autumn.
Wild herbs & flowersGathered in the fields.
HoneyWildflower honey from the hills.
Verdicchio & VernacciaCrisp whites and a rare sparkling red.
VarnelliDry anise liqueur, since 1868.
Art Cities
Renaissance towns, without the crowds.
UrbinoThe Renaissance city of Raphael and the Ducal Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Ascoli PicenoA town built in travertine, with one of Italy’s most beautiful squares, Piazza del Popolo.
LoretoThe basilica of the Holy House, one of Europe’s great pilgrimage sites.
RecanatiGiacomo Leopardi’s hometown, with his family palazzo and library.
MacerataUniversity town and home of the Sferisterio opera festival.
FermoA hilltop town above the sea, with its vast Roman cisterns.
History & Culture
From the Piceni to the opera.
1st century BC
Roman Trea
Soon after 49 BC, Trea became a Roman town. It flourished under Augustus; traces of a sanctuary to Isis and Serapis were found beneath today’s Santissimo Crocifisso.
1790
From Montecchio to Treia
Around the year 1000 the people moved up to the safer hilltop of Montecchio. In 1790 Pope Pius VI made it a city and gave back its Roman name: Treia.
Every summer
Capital of the bracciale
Treia is the home of pallone col bracciale, an old Italian ball game played with a wooden bracelet. Every summer the town hosts its championship and, on the first Sunday of August, the Disfida between its four districts, in honour of local champion Carlo Didimi, praised by Leopardi in 1821.
Since 1921
Opera at the Sferisterio
Macerata’s open-air arena, built in the 1820s for the same ball game, has staged opera since Verdi’s Aida in 1921.
1798
Giacomo Leopardi
Italy’s great Romantic poet was born in Recanati, half an hour away; his family palazzo and library can be visited.