Loreto, the great Marian pilgrimage shrine, is just 6 km north — close enough that Recanati and Loreto can easily be combined in a single day. The Basilica della Santa Casa is built around what tradition holds to be the house of the Virgin Mary, said to have been miraculously transported from Nazareth by angels in 1294. The Renaissance complex around it includes a remarkable octagonal Sagrestia with a vaulted ceiling.
The Riviera del Conero is the limestone peninsula 25 km north where the Apennines meet the Adriatic in cliffs and small coves. Sirolo, Numana and the beaches of Mezzavalle and Due Sorelle are the best Adriatic swimming on the Italian east coast.
Macerata, 25 km west, has a grand outdoor opera festival every summer in the Sferisterio, a vast nineteenth-century stadium with extraordinary acoustics. Tolentino further inland is a quiet medieval town with a noted basilica.
For something different, the Frasassi Caves at Genga — among the largest in Europe — are about an hour away and make a striking contrast with the literary high culture of Recanati.
