Camerino

It sits on a hill among the steep valleys of Chienti and Pontenza at an altitude of 661 m.  The economy is based on agricultural crops and livestock breeding as well as industrial activity in food, textiles, building and, most of all, tourism. The Palazzo Ducale of the Varano family (interesting courtyard from the XV century) is centre of the University, founded in 1727 and publicly owned since 1958, with  departments in law, pharmacy, mathematical, physics and natural sciences, veterinary sciences and architecture. Annexed to the university are: The Valentiniana Library, the botanical gardens, the Zoology and Comparative Anatomy Museum and meteorological observatory. The old San Francesco church houses the civic picture gallery. Worth a visit are the fortress of Duke Valentino (1502), the archiepiscopal palace of the XVI century, the St. Venanzio church of the XV century (rebuilt after the 1799 earthquake) and the Pope Sisto V bronze statue, a  work by Tiburzio Vergelli on the Cavour square, next to the cathedral. Inside there are impressive ruins of the medieval castle.