Antico centro universitario le cui origini risalgono al ‘300, raggiunse il periodo di massimo fulgore in epoca medievale, sotto la signoria della famiglia Da Varano, signori incontrastati della città fino alla metà del ‘500. La cosiddetta ‘età d’oro’ di Camerino è sotto Giulio Cesare Varano: dal 1443 al 1502 la corte diventa un centro di cultura, espressione di un Rinascimento simile a quello di altre corti italiane; il mecenatismo del gran signore dà singolare impulso alle arti figurative, così che a Camerino si forma una prestigiosa scuola pittorica.
Camerino – main centre
Camerino deserves special attention because of its historical and cultural heritage. An old university town whose university dates back to the 1300s, Camerino flourished in Medieval times under the lordship of the da Varano family who ruled unchallenged until the mid-1500s. The town, which stands on a saddle between the valleys of the river Potenza and the river Chienti, is particularly interesting from an architectural viewpoint: characteristically medieval in appearance, its imposing walls enclose harmonious squares and elegant civil and religious buildings. Camerino also boasts a strong artistic tradition: its golden years were under the lordship of Giulio Cesare Varano: from 1443 to 1502, the court became a cultural centre, an expression of the Renaissance much like other Italian courts; the patronage of a lord gave great strength to the arts, and a prestigious school of painting was formed in Camerino. In the middle of the XVI Century Camerino disappeared from Italian history. A catastrophic earthquake in 1799 prevented its recovery. But its cultural heritage ever nourishes the work of its academies and survives above all in the University.