Italian hilltop city in the Marches. Set in a relatively isolated position east of the Appenines, c. 12 km south-west of Pesaro, Urbino (population c. 16,000) achieved an extraordinary cultural importance in the 15th and 16th centuries, especially under the rule of Federigo II da Montefeltro, who built the great Palazzo Ducale that dominates the walled city.
Francesco Paolo Fiore