Situated in the Regio V Picenum, along the via Salaria Gallica, the town was founded during the 2nd century BC as a colonia. Its importance reached the top with Augustus and Tiberius, when it was completely rebuilt. It gave birth to some leading figures of the Roman Empire, such as the consul Gaius Fufius Geminus, and Lucius Flavius Silva Nonius Bassusthe conqueror of Masada. It was utterly destroyed by Alaric in 408-10 AD, and both Procopius and Dante Alighieri describe its desolation. During the following centuries, the inhabitants of Urbs Salvia gradually moved to the top of the hill, giving rise to the Castro de Orbesallia. In the 12th century, a very important religious, economic and cultural centre was founded nearby, the Abbey of Fiastra, which had to influence the Fiastra Valley and the surrounding area. Between 12th and 14th century, the town was ruled by the Abbracciamonte family; they slowly sold the town to the Comune of Tolentino, which became its only owner. After Francesco Sforza's signoria, Urbisaglia came back under Tolentino's domination. Tolentino was given the papal permission to build a rocca, to prevent any rebellion attempt; in 1507 Tolentino sent a 12 soldiers garrison to defend the fortress. In 1569, after petitioning the Pope Pius V, the inhabitants of Urbisaglia were given the autonomy from Tolentino; the town was directly placed under Holy See's dependency. The first diggings in the Roman town took place during the papal government; after Italy's unification the standard of living improved thanks to industrial development, permitting the rise of a spinning mill and both a hosiery and a soap factory. Thanks to the benefactors Angelo Buccolini, Innocenzo Petrini and the marquis Alessandro Giannelli, the town was provided with a nursery school, an old people's home and a Mount of piety.
World War II
During Fascist era the town was given the name of "Urbisaglia Bonservizi" in honour of Nicola Bonservizi, a journalist born in Urbisaglia and a Mussolini's collaborator, killed in Paris by an anarchist. Urbisaglia was the site of an internment camp throughout the Second World War; it was placed at Giustiniani Bandini Palace, next to the Abbey of Fiastra. It remained active from June 1940 until October 1943, the internees were about a hundred, mostly Jews, from Italy but also refugees from Germany, Austria, and the Balkans. In October 1943, a German unit took over the camp and prisoners who failed to flee were sent to the Fossoli di Carpi camp, last step for Jews deported to Auschwitz extermination camp.
In July 1942, a large prisoner-of-war camp was established at a disused linen factory at Casette Verdini, to the south west of the settlement of Sforzacosta, about from the Urbisaglia Sforzacosta railway. It was known as P.G. 53. Up to 10,000 prisoners were housed there.
Officially recognized as archaeological park in 1994, it spread over an area of about, and it is the most important one in the Marche.
Just outside the medieval city walls, a walk descends through the park for about. It affords views of the scale and topography of the ancient town, starting at the top of the hill and reaching the flat valley bottom, bounded on the east side by the Fiastra river.
You can visit the Reservoir, the Theatre, the Niched Building, the Sanctuarial complex Temple-Criptoporticus dedicated to the goddess Salus Augusta and the Amphiteatre built by Lucius Flavius Silva Nonius Bassus. The city walls are well visible too, preserved along several hundred metres. Every year in July and August, a season of classical drama takes place at the amphitheatre.
Rocca di Urbisaglia
The medieval fortress of Urbisaglia was a military fortification erected by the town of Tolentino at the beginning of the 16th century.
It was built upon the ruins of previous fortifications on the west corner of the Roman wall of Urbs Salvia. Its imposing position at the centre of the urban area suggests that the Arx or the Capitol of the Roman town was once located here, as demonstrated by substantial remains of Roman walls and of composite concrete. It has a trapezoidal shape with the longest side facing away from the town in order to better face potential attacks. There are four corner towers, a gate tower and a keep where the garrison Tolentino had imposed on Urbisaglia resided. Indeed, the fortress's main function, other than to control the surrounding areas, was to guard the town and to prevent any rebellious acts from the citizens of Urbisaglia who resented Tolentino's power over them.
