Discover the city
Jesi, the royal city, an elegant treasure chest of history, music, and culture in the heart of the Marche.
According to legend, Jesi (40,000 inhabitants) was founded by Esio, king of the Pelasgians. It lies partly on flat land and partly on a hill to the left of the Esino River, at a moderate distance from both the Adriatic coast and the Gola della Rossa in the Marche Apennines.
It is the most important city in the Vallesina, an area that includes around 20 municipalities.
The perimeter of the city walls still extends for about 1.5 km: built between the 13th and 14th centuries and modified in the 15th century by Baccio Pontelli, they follow the layout of the ancient Roman defensive enclosure and still preserve all the elements of a medieval defensive system intact: towers, patrol walkways, machicolations, and arrow slits.
Jesi is the birthplace of distinguished figures such as the Swabian Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, the humanist Angelo Colocci, and the musician Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Over the centuries, however, it has also hosted important figures who left a valuable cultural legacy, such as the Sienese architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini and the Venetian painter Lorenzo Lotto.
The Urban Museum Network MJ (Musei Jesi) brings together and showcases the city’s history through a route made up of museums, theaters, and noble palaces, allowing visitors to discover its treasures, such as the collection of works by the Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto and the splendid Stucco Gallery in the Civic Museums of Palazzo Pianetti; the Frederick II Museum, located in the very square where the Swabian emperor was born; the lavish 19th-century apartments of the Colocci marquises; the Ancient Collections Rooms in Palazzo della Signoria; the Pergolesi and Spontini Rooms of the Teatro Pergolesi; the Museum of Printing Arts; the museum rooms of Palazzo Bisaccioni; and the Diocesan Museum.
This rich cultural heritage, combined with excellent food and wine, makes the city a multifaceted tourist destination suitable for every visitor.
