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Originally known as Castel delle Ripe, it was a free commune of the Guelph party. In 1277 it was destroyed by the Ghibellines: rebuilt by the Provençal Guillaume Durand (1284), in that occasion it was christened Casteldurante. Later it was ruled by the Brancaleoni family. When the latter were ousted, the city offered itself to the Dukes of Urbino, which used the palace in the city as summer residence and had it restored by architects such as Francesco di Giorgio Martini. the last della Rovere duke, Francesco Maria II, is buried in the Ducal Palace of Urbania.
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