The city of Jesi, main centre of Vallesina is located in the hart of the Marche nestling among the gentle fertile hills of the Esino River.
Besides its beauty, the city is noted for having been the birthplace of Federico II of Svevia who occupied the throne of the Holy Roman Empire from 1211 to 1250. This spot is part of an attractive landscape made up of little hamlets upstream on both sides of the valley, the so-named “Jesi Castles” which blend in with the landscape dotted with gentle hills where today the famous Verdicchio wine of Jesi Castles is cultivated. The first impression the city offers its visitors is the awesome sight of its beautifully elegant boundary walls dating back to the XIV century enclosing the ancient town centre full of narrow streets and lanes and lovely squares.
In ancient times, the city was settled by Umbre populations who were substituted by the Etruscans during the expansion of their dominions as far as the Adriatic sea.
In the IV century, these lands were occupied by the Galli Senoni of Nothern Celtic origin who established the southern border of their dominion at the Lesino River making Jesi the last defensive stronghold against the Piceni. In 295 B.C. with the Battle of Sentino, Rome managed once and for all to subdue the Italici populations and Jesi was transformed into a “Civium Romanorum”.
After its inclusion in the Pentapoli Mediterranean province during the Byzantine period, in 756 Jesi and other cities were donated to the Church, thus starting the temporal Papal power. This led to a time in which the land underwent impressive change by the Benedictine monks who gave the go-ahead for an important land reclamation scheme as well as the building of cultural places in the Esino valley; so great was it that around the year 1000 twenty-eight abbeys were to be found in the area.
With the coronation of Carlo Magno as Emperor in the year '800, Jesi, though belonging to the Church, fell back under the Imperial jurisdiction so becoming part of the new Marca county.
In 999 the Emperor Ottone III gave back to the Church eight counties, among which counted Jesi, marking the start of its feudal period.
Becoming a free commune in or around 1130 with its own autonomous government, jurisdiction, consuls and school of arts and trades, the town underwent great works of fortification, in particular the raising of walls along the ancient traces of the ones from the Roman era.
In 1194 the Emperor Federico II of Svevia was born in the heart of the city; he would confer on Jesi the title of “Città Regia”. The political destiny of Jesi would for years be hitched to those of Federico II and his sons Enzo and Manfredi, but this crisis in the communal institutions and the advent of strong families such as those of Malatesta, Braccio da Montone and Francesco Sforza, gave rise to the era of the nobles. In 1477 Francesco Sforza sold Jesi to the Church and in 1512 because of this alliance, Jesi was sacked by Urbinati troops at war with the Pope.
Starting from the second half of the 1400s Jesi witnessed a prosperous period which greatly changed the architectural face of the city thanks to the raising of new churches, palaces coupled with progressive urban expansion outside the circle of the old walls.
Towards the end of the 1500s the power of the noble landowners began to increase: they claimed all the political and administrative power for themselves. This situation lasted until the second half of the 1200s when the arrival of the Napoleonic troops in 1297 put an end to the monopoly of the nobles and their dominion of the surrounding castles and villages.
In the first decade of the 1800s the first silk manufacturing industries began to appear and a gradual process of industrialisation began for Jesi. In 1831 an attempt at the constitution of self-government was made; however the experiment failed and soon Jesi joined in the destiny of the entire region becoming annexed to the reign of Italy.
Every year in May, in honour of the patronal anniversary and including the twenty or so communes of Vallesina, the “Palio of St. Floriano” takes place in which four districts, Santa Croce, Posterna, St. Giuseppe, St. Peter and St. Benedetto, challenge each other to a ring tournament and a crossbow contest. As well as flag-waving displays, drums and a historic procession of over 150 costumes, there are musical concerts, theatrical presentations, re-enactments of Medieval life, wine tasting and gastronomical specialities, all to be found in the old town's streets.

Monuments