Fano is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the '' Via Flaminia'' reaches the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

. It is the third city in the region by population after

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

and Pesaro.

History

An ancient town of Marche, it was known as Fanum Fortunae after a temple of

Fortuna Fortuna ( la, Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until at ...

located there. Its first mention in history dates from 49 BC, when

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

held it, along with Pisaurum and Ancona. Caesar Augustus established a '' colonia'', and built a wall, some parts of which remain. In 2 AD Augustus also built an arch (which is still standing) at the entrance to the town. Fano Castle

In January 271, the

Roman Army The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval contin ...

defeated the Alamanni in the

Battle of Fano The Battle of Fano, also known as the Battle of Fanum Fortunae,Michael Grant, The History of Rome, p. 285 was fought in 271 between the Roman Empire and the Juthungi. The Romans, led by Emperor Aurelian, were victorious. Background Aurelian h ...

that took place on the banks of the Metauro river just inland of Fano. Fano was destroyed by

Vitiges Vitiges or Vitigis or Witiges (died 542) was king of Ostrogothic Kingdom, Ostrogothic Italy from 536 to 540. He succeeded to the throne of Italy in the early stages of the Gothic War (535–554), Gothic War of 535–554, as Belisarius had qui ...

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

in AD 538. It was rebuilt by the Byzantines, becoming the capital of the maritime Pentapolis ("Five Cities") that included also

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

, Pesaro,

Senigallia Senigallia (or Sinigaglia in Old Italian, Romagnol: ''S’nigaja'') is a ''comune'' and port town on Italy's Adriatic coast. It is situated in the province of Ancona in the Marche region and lies approximately 30 kilometers north-west of the pro ...

and Ancona. In 754 it was donated to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

by the Frankish kings. The

Malatesta Malatesta may refer to: People Given name * Malatesta (I) da Verucchio (1212–1312), founder of the powerful Italian Malatesta family and a famous condottiero * Malatesta IV Baglioni (1491–1531), Italian condottiero and lord of Perugia, Bettona, ...

became lords of the city in 1356 with

Galeotto I Malatesta Galeotto I Malatesta (1299–1385) was an Italian condottiero, who was lord of Rimini, Fano, Ascoli Piceno, Cesena and Fossombrone. Biography Born in Rimini, he was the son of Pandolfo I Malatesta and the brother of Malatesta II Malatesta. In 133 ...

, who was nominally only a vicar of the Popes. Among the others, Pandolfo III resided in the city. Under his son, the famous condottiero

Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta (19 June 1417 – 7 October 1468) was an Italian condottiero and nobleman, a member of the House of Malatesta and lord of Rimini and Fano from 1432. He was widely considered by his contemporaries as one of the mo ...

, Fano was besieged by Papal troops under Federico III da Montefeltro, and returned to the Papal administration. It was later part of the short-lived state of Cesare Borgia, and then part of the duchy of the della Roveres in the Marche. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

it suffered heavy spoliations; the city had an active role in the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Fano was several times bombed by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

it was massively bombed by Allied airplanes due to hit the strategic railway and street bridges crossing the Metauro river. When the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s withdrew from the town they destroyed all of the bell towers in the town.

Main sights

Religious structures

* Fano Cathedral: (12th century), which was erected over a pre-existing cathedral destroyed by a fire in 1111. The current façade is from the 1920s restoration, but is similar to the original. The interior has a nave and two aisles. No remnants of the town's namesake temple have been uncovered, nor any of the basilica that (we are told)

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...

built there. * San Domenico * San Pietro in Valle: * San Paterniano: (16th century) with a Renaissance cloister. * San Francesco: church housing the tombs of Pandolfo III Malatesta (designed by

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. H ...

) and his first wife Paola Bianca Malatesta. *

Santa Maria Nuova Santa Maria Nuova is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ancona in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona. Santa Maria Nuova borders the following municipalities: Filottrano, Jesi, Osimo, Polverigi Polverigi is ...

: (1521) Church has an ancient portal and two works by

Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil. Ea ...

('' Annunciation of Fano'' and Fano Altarpiece, the latter including perhaps an intervention by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

). Outside the city, in the place called Bellocchi, is the church of St. Sebastian (16th century), for the construction of which parts of the ancient cathedral were used.

Secular structures

* Arco d'Augusto: The upper story of this Roman gate was destroyed in a siege conducted on the order of

Pope Pius II Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

in 1463, although a bas-relief of it was made by Bernardino di Pietro da Carona in 1513 on an adjacent wall of the annexed church and the

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

of St. Michael, the former having a noteworthy Renaissance portal. *''Corte Malatestiana'': built after 1357 by Galeotto I Malatesta. The 14th-century section includes a great vaulted hall (probably part of the first residence of the Malatesta in the city) and a small turret. The modern part was built under Pandolfo III in 1413–23. The current edifice was heavily restored in the 20th century, but original are the mullioned windows in Gothic style as well as the staircase and the loggia from a 16th-century restoration. Also noteworthy is the Borgia-Cybo Arch (late 15th century). The palace is connected to the ''Palazzo del Podestà'' by a modern bridge, probably present also in the original structure. *''Rocca Malatestiana'': (Malatesta Castle) was partially destroyed in 1944. The most ancient part dates probably from pre-existing Roman and medieval fortifications. The castle in its current form was begun in 1433 or 1438 by

. The now missing '' mastio'' was erected in 1452. Here Sigismondo's son,

Roberto The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, was besieged by Papal Troops in 1463 and signed the peace treaty that ended the Malatesta domination of Fano. *''Museo Civico of Fano'': (Archeological Museum and Art Gallery), located inside the ''Palazzo Malatestiano'', contains paintings by

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vi ...

, Michele Giambono, and Giovanni Santi. *''Palazzo del

Podestà Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...

'' or ''della Ragione'' (built from 1229 in Romanesque-Gothic style). The interiors are in Neoclassicist style, and it houses a museum with archaeological findings, coins, medals, and an art gallery with works by Guido Reni, Domenichino and others. *''Fontana della Fortuna'' (Fountain of Fortune) (17th century).

Culture

* ''Fano dei Cesari'' is held annually in July or August for a week. During the week there are a variety of cultural events ending with a parade in Roman costumes and chariot races. * The

Fano Jazz by The Sea Fano Jazz by the Sea is an annual jazz festival held in Fano, Italy since 1993. It is usually held at the end of July. History Originally born as marine side event of the festival Umbria Jazz under the name ''Umbria Jazz by the Sea'' in 1991, ...

festival is held annually for one week. * The library, the Biblioteca Federiciana, was established on 17 November 1720.

Sports

Ultimate Frisbee

The Ultimate Frisbee Fano Association was created in 2001. The association has 4 teams: Croccali (mixed), Mirine (women), Spaccamadoni (men) and Angry Gulls (juniors). Since 2001, the association has won 8 Italian championships.

Notable people

Sebastiano Ceccarini Sebastiano Ceccarini (1703–1783), born in Fano, was an Italian Baroque painter. He was a student of Francesco Mancini and the teacher of his nephew Carlo Magini. Biography He painted in Rome during the papacy of Pope Clement XII, painting an ...

(1703–83), painter * Clement VIII, Ippolito Aldobrandini (1536–1605), pope * Sara Conti, 2001 * Menahem Azariah da Fano (1548, Fano – Mantua, 1620), famed Rabbi and Kabbalist * Antonio Giuglini (1825–65), opera tenor * Fathi Hassan, 1957, Artist * Carlo Magini (1720–1806), painter * Roberto Malatesta (c. 1441-1442–1482), condottiero and lord of Rimini, *

Laura Martinozzi Laura Martinozzi (27 May 1639 – 19 July 1687) was a Duchess consort of Modena by marriage to Alfonso IV d'Este, Duke of Modena. She served as regent of Modena during the minority of her son Francesco from 1662 until 1674. Biography Early life ...

(1639–87), duchess, mother of Mary of Modena * Bruno Radicioni (1933–97), painter, sculptor and ceramist * Ruggero Ruggeri (1871-1953), actor *

Giacomo Torelli Giacomo Torelli (1 September 1608 – 17 June 1678) was an Italian stage designer, scenery painter, engineer, and architect. His work in stage design, particularly his designs of machinery for creating spectacular scenery changes and other spe ...

(1608–78), set designer * Franco Trappoli, Mayor of Fano (1980–83) and first Buddhist member of the Italian Parliament

International relations

Fano is twinned with: *

Rastatt Rastatt () is a town with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 50,000 (2011). Rastatt was a ...

, Germany *

Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise, created in the 1960s. Population Transport Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône is served by two ...

, France * St. Albans, United Kingdom * Stribro, Czech Republic

Notes

External links

Fano homepage

The Fano Club at Baylor University
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2016 Coastal towns in the Marche Duchy of the Pentapolis Roman towns and cities in Italy Roman sites of the Marche