Rural Mural

One of my other jobs out here in Italy's hidden secret involves writing a monthly column on Le Marche's many excellent wineries (or, more specifically, Macerata province's). Last week this took me to Matelica, one and only source of its green gold pride, Verdicchio di Matelica. But that's not the subject of this posting.

Every time I go to a town I always stop in at the tourist office to see what's going on, what's new, and to get a local's impressions on any- and everything (normally it's a different person from the last time I was there). This time I stumbled upon a brochure of a nearby town that initiated a project to paint murals on the walls of several houses. After wading through the customary morass of bureaucracy and getting the required permits, art students from all over Italy and beyond came to decorate the walls of this village. This was several years ago, but I reckoned they were still there (the murals, not the artists), and so I took a drive out there.

While some of the murals have been painted over by now, those that remain are a dlightful surprise, adding a colourful and distinctly alternative dimension to this picturesque, traditional village. Take a look. (Double-click on the picture and it will open full-size.)