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 "Vaga, leggiadra, montanina et bella città”…
“Vague, graceful and beautiful mountain city”; this was how a refined poet of the Montefeltro court, Angelo Galli, proclaimed the natural beauty of Urbino in verse. This old capital of the Duchy has preserved its particular charm throughout the centuries by following its old cultural vocations and favouring the extraordinary balance between countryside and buildings that was the main concern of Dalmatian architect, Luciano Laurana, and of his successor, Francesco di Giorgio Martini.
Urbino shows its most charming side to visitors who arrive from the Alpe della Luna: two agile and elegant turrets, that blend perfectly with their surroundings, lending a fairytale air to the imposing building that is the ducal palace.
The entire palace is built to open out onto the territory in a marvellous interpenetration, where it is possible to admire and enjoy the pink tones of Urbino’s bricks, a unique and unforgettable spectacle.
This has been made even more important by UNESCO’s recent decision to include the centre of Urbino in its list of World Heritage Sites.
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A Brief History of the Restaurant
From Piazza Sant’Andrea, which is bordered by the old Lion fountain, one enters the heart of the Lavagine contrada, which in its lower part is formed by a maze of narrow streets, among which the old Via dei Vasari, home to the Vecchia Urbino restaurant and just before the City Gate.
The premises once belonged to Casa Viviani, a sixteenth-century building that now houses an International Engraving and Etching Centre belonging to the Accademia Raffaello
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 I Our Restaurant The Ceiling Lamps
The treatise on divina proportione (divine proportion) by mathematician Luca Pacioli, led to the idea of a particular artistic form, the so-called Ducal Star, an object that is traditionally the symbol of Urbino’s Renaissance spirit.
This artistic, handcrafted item has a multiform pyramid structure and is used as the outer part of a lamp. It was made by master craftsmen of the period using blown glass and brass and would adorn the noble homes of Urbino. The heirs to this tradition still follow the old methods used to make these objects, respecting the rigorous forms and the precise regulations celebrated in the late fifteenth-century treatise.
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