If, when Lucretia entered Pesaro, her soul--young as she was--was not
already dead to all agreeable sensations, she must have enjoyed for the
first time the blessed sense of freedom. To her, gloomy Rome, with the
dismal Vatican and its passions and crimes, must have seemed like a
prison from which she had escaped. It is true everything about her in
Pesaro was small when compared with the greatness of Rome, but here she
was removed from the direct influence of her father and brother, from
whom she was separated by the Apennines and a distance which, in that
age, was great.

The city of Pesaro, which now has more than twelve thousand, and with
its adjacent territory over twenty thousand inhabitants had then about
half as many. It had streets and squares with substantial specimens of
Gothic architecture, interspersed, however, even then, with numerous
palaces in the style of the Renaissance. A number of cloisters and
churches, whose ancient portals are still preserved, such as S.
Domenico, S. Francesco, S. Agostino, and S. Giovanni, rendered the city
imposing if not beautiful.

Pesaro's most important structures were the monuments of the ruling
dynasty, the stronghold on the seashore and the palace facing the public
square. The last was begun by Costanzo Sforza in 1474 and was completed
by his son Giovanni. Even to-day his name may be seen on the marble
tablet over the entrance. The castle with its four low, round towers or
bastions, all in ruin, and surrounded by a moat, stands at the end of
the city wall near the sea, and whatever strength it had was due to its
environment; in spite of its situation it appears so insignificant that
one wonders how, even in those days when the science of gunnery was in
its infancy, it could have had any value as a fortress.

The Sforza palace is still standing on the little public square of which
it occupies one whole side. It is an attractive, but not imposing
structure with two large courts. The Della Rovere, successors of the
Sforza in Pesaro, beautified it during the sixteenth century; they built
the noble facade which rests upon a series of six round arches. The
Sforza arms have disappeared from the palace, but in many places over
the portals and on the ceilings the inscription of Guidobaldus II,
duke, and the Della Rovere arms may be seen. Even in Lucretia's day the
magnificent banquet hall--the most beautiful room in the palace--was in
existence, and its size made it worthy of