Falconara Marittima is a seaside resort on the Adriatic coast, in

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 ...

, located north of

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 ...

, in the Marche region,

province of Ancona The province of Ancona ( it, provincia di Ancona) is a province in the Marche region of central Italy. Its capital is the city of Ancona, and the province borders the Adriatic Sea. The city of Ancona is also the capital of Marche. To the north, ...

History

Falconara developed around a castle. In the second half of the 16th century it was bought by the noble family of Bourbon del Monte. In the 19th century they were still present as owners. The Castle of Falconara, together with those of Rocca Priora and of Castelferretti, represented a defence system around Ancona, which controlled the territory and demanded bridge toll for crossing over the river

Esino The Esino (, la, Aesis) is a river in the Marche region of central Italy. Geography The source of the river is east of Monte Penna in the province of Macerata near the border with the province of Ancona. The river flows east past Esanatoglia and ...

and had many other functions.

Demographics

, 90.94% of the population was Italian. The largest immigrant group came from Albania and Romania 4.75%, followed by North Africa 1.17%.

Sights

Falconara Marittima's main attraction is a long sandy beach where during the summer people practice sports such as beach volleyball,

beach tennis ''For the sport called "beach paddleball", see Matkot. For other sports called "paddleball", see Paddleball (sport).'' Beach tennis is a game combining elements of tennis and volleyball and played on a beach. Forms Beach tennis Beach tenni ...

and beach soccer. Falconara has a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

. Every year on 15 August, the

Ferragosto Ferragosto is a public holiday celebrated on August 15th in all of Italy. It originates from Feriae Augusti, the festival of emperor Augustus, who made the 1st of August a day of rest after weeks of hard work on the agricultural sector. It becam ...

holiday a fireworks display takes place. The

Frecce Tricolori The ''Frecce Tricolori'' (; literally "Tricolour Arrows"), officially known as the ''313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale (PAN) Frecce Tricolori'' ("313th Acrobatic Training Group, National Aerobatic Team (PAN) Frec ...

show took place in the sky of Falconara Marittima in the summer of 2007 and 2009 The Cormorano park on the north side of town has hosted numerous cultural events, including concerts of

Francesco De Gregori Francesco De Gregori OMRI (born 4 April 1951) is an Italian singer-songwriter. In Italy, he is popularly known as "Il Principe dei cantautori" ("The Prince of the singer-songwriters"), a nickname referring to the elegance of his lyrics. He is of ...

Goran Bregovic Goran may refer to: Ethnic groups *Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa *Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East *Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of the southeastern Europe Other uses *Göran, a Swedis ...

and

Piero Pelù Pietro "Piero" Pelù (born 10 February 1962) is an Italian singer and songwriter, best known for his work with the Italian band Litfiba. He was born in Florence. In July 1999, Pelù quit Litfiba. In 2000, he released his first solo album ''N ...

. Among its religious sites is the church of Santa Maria della Misericordia with 15th-century frescoes.

Climate

Winters can be quite cold due to the bora, an icy wind that blows along the coast, however snow is rare. The last recorded heavy snowfall occurred in February 2012, then again in February 2018 From April to June the climate is warm and pleasant, with moderate humidity. July and August can be very hot, with high temperatures usually above . In 2003 Falconara experienced twin tornados along the coast.

Transportation

Ancona Airport is located in Falconara Marittima. Falconara beach is about from the airport. The Falconara-Orte main line is one of the few transversal lines on the Italian Railway Network; the Adriatic line also passes through Falconara railway station.

Falconara Airport Falconara Airbase is a joint-use civil airport and Italian Air Force (''Aeronautica Militare'') facility in Italy, located approximately 3 km west of Falconara Marittima in the province of Ancona, about 200 km north-northeast of Rome. ...

was used by the United States Army Air Forces between 1 April and 1 September 1945 as a military airfield.

Sport

The local volleyball team ''Pallavolo Falconara'' won the CEV Cup in 1986 and reached play-off semifinal of

Italian Volleyball League Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

two times in the eighties. Notable former volleyball players of the club include

Ferdinando De Giorgi Ferdinando De Giorgi (born 10 October 1961) is an Italian professional volleyball coach and former player, a participant in the Olympic Games Seoul 1988, three–time World Champion (1990, 1994, 1998), and the 1989 European Champion. He curren ...

, Daniel Castellani,

Tom Sorensen Thomas Sorensen (born April 6, 1971, in Racine, Wisconsin) is a former American volleyball player, who was a member of the United States men's national volleyball team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Sorenson graduated from Raci ...

, Raimonds Vilde, Jan Kvalheim,

Andrea Anastasi Andrea Anastasi (born 8 October 1960) is an Italian professional volleyball coach and former player. He was a member of the Italy national team from 1981 to 1991. The 1990 World Champion, 1989 European Champion, and a two–time World League ...

Leondino Giombini Leondino Giombini (born 30 January 1975 in Ancona) is a volleyball player from Italy, who won the gold medal with the Men's National Team at the 1999 European Championship in Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = ...

, Pasquale Gravina, Valerio Vermiglio and

Samuele Papi Samuele Papi (born 20 May 1973) is an Italian former volleyball player, a member of Italy men's national volleyball team in 1993-2012, silver and bronze medalist of the Olympic Games, multiple winner of the European Championship and World Champi ...

References

{{authority control Seaside resorts in Italy