04 - The Metauro

The safe bank of the pilgrim 

The path that runs along the river from the town center today is impassable, but once it had to be an easy path, when Torquato Tasso wrote (…) “a queste tue cortesi amiche sponde/per sicurezza vengo e per te riposo”.

Along the stretch of the river that today is not visible, behind the rural houses coated with concrete and the sheds, the oaks, the second natural element declaimed by the poet, remain solid and majestic between the vegetation. There are many which are very impressive. 

“L’alta Quercia che tu bagni e fecondi, con dolcissimi umori/ond’ella spiega/ i rami sì ch’i monti e i mari ingombra”.

The shape of this tree refers to the sense of security whom the poet strives for and it embodied in the symbol of those who seem the only possible well-wishers of the route change of its adverse “fortune”: the Della Rovere family.