Ducal Palace, Renaissance palace in Urbania, Italy

The Ducal Palace in Urbania stands on the site of a former citadel above the Metauro River. Its construction was entrusted to Francesco di Giorgio Martini in 1470. Visitors enter through a late-16th-century Renaissance courtyard with a portico of twenty-two travertine columns, and a staircase leads to the piano nobile, where the ceremony hall has a sail vault by Girolamo Genga.

The palace stands on the site of a citadel owned by the Brancaleoni family of Piobbico, feudal lords of Casteldurante. In 1470 Federico da Montefeltro commissioned Francesco di Giorgio Martini to build the residence, funded by the Dukes of Urbino. Girolamo Genga later created the sail vault of the ceremony hall. The last Duke of Urbino, Francesco Maria II della Rovere, died here on 23 April 1631.

The Museo Civico occupies the piano nobile, with a library, picture gallery and historical archives. Its drawing collection numbers 750 mannerist sheets, probably gathered by Count Federico Ubaldini in his residences between Siena, Rome and the Marche. A room traces Casteldurante maiolica from the 14th to the 18th century, showing the colours and motifs of Urbania's workshops.

The best time to visit is in the morning when visitor numbers are lower and rooms are easier to explore. Wear comfortable shoes since the stairs and spiral ramp require steady footsteps.

In the Sala dei Cavalieri are two Mercator globes: the terrestrial sphere of 1541 and the celestial sphere of 1551. They are displayed with a monumental engraving, 11.80 m long and 0.36 m high, of the triumphal procession of Charles V, made by Nicola Hogenberg for the emperor's coronation by Pope Clement VII at Bologna in 1530.