Fabriano is a town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of Ancona province in the Italian region of the

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, at

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. It lies in the Esino valley upstream and southwest of Jesi; and east-northeast of Fossato di Vico and east of Gubbio (both in Umbria). Its location on the main highway and rail line from Umbria to the Adriatic make it a mid-sized regional center in the Apennines. Fabriano is the headquarters of the giant appliance maker Indesit (partly owned by Whirlpool). Fabriano, with Roma, Parma, Torino and Carrara, is an Italian creative city (UNESCO). The town is in the category ''Folk Arts'' and is widely-known for its production of handmade

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

History

Fabriano appears to have been founded in the early Middle Ages by the inhabitants of a small Roman town south at Attiggio (Latin ''Attidium''), of which some slight remains and inscriptions are extant. In 1276, Fabriano became one of the earliest places in Europe to produce

. Since the 13th century and even today, the town has a reputation for fine watermarked paper. This led to Fabriano's prosperity in the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

and the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

, and was also one of the factors that led to the establishment of nearby

Foligno Foligno (; Central Italian, Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennine Mountains, Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clit ...

in Umbria as one of the earliest printing centers in Italy in the 15th century, from 1470 onwards.

Geography

The municipality borders with Cerreto d'Esi, Costacciaro ( PG), Esanatoglia ( MC),

Fiuminata Fiuminata is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. The municipal seat is in the '' frazione'' of Massa. Fiuminata borders the ...

(MC), Fossato di Vico (PG), Genga, Gualdo Tadino (PG),

Matelica Matelica is a (municipality) of the Province of Macerata in the Italian region of Marche. Located about southwest of Ancona and west of Macerata, it extends over an area of . Geography Matelica lies in an ample valley where the Braccano ...

(MC), Nocera Umbra (PG), Poggio San Vicino (MC), Sassoferrato, Serra San Quirico and Sigillo (PG).

''Frazioni''

The hamlets ('' frazioni'') of Fabriano are: Albacina, Argignano, Attiggio, Bassano, Bastia, Belvedere, Borgo Tufico, Cacciano, Ca' Maiano, Campodiegoli, Campodonico, Cancelli, Cantia, Castelletta, Ceresola, Ciaramella, Coccore, Collamato, Collegiglioni, Colle Paganello, Cupo, Fontanaldo, Grotte, Marena, Marenella, Marischio, Melano, Moscano, Nebbiano, Paterno, Poggio San Romualdo, Rufano beach, Precicchie, Rocchetta, Rucce, San Donato, San Giovanni, San Michele, San Pietro, Sant'Elia, Serradica, Valgiubbola, Vallemontagnana, Valleremita, Vallina, Varano, Viacce, Vigne.

Main sights

Fabriano's wealth and commitment to the fine arts in the late medieval period have left it with many monuments.

Churches

* Fabriano Cathedral, dedicated to San Venanzio ( Saint Venantius) (14th century, rebuilt in 1607–17). From the Baroque restoration are the stucco decoration of the interior and the canvasses by Gregorio Preti, Salvator Rosa, Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri, Giuseppe Puglia and Orazio Gentileschi. To the original Cathedral belong the polygonal apse, the cloister and the St Lawrence Chapel with frescoes by Allegretto di Nuzio (c. 1360). Also important are the frescoes with ''Stories of the True Cross'' by the Folignate painter Giovanni di Corraduccio (1415). * San Filippo Neri - Church in 14th century attached to hospital, converted to oratory of the Philippines in 1628 *San Domenico * Santi Biagio e Romualdo * Sant'Onofrio - Church rebuilt in 1727 *The Benedictine Abbey *St Augustine * Santa Caterina da Siena - Present church erected 1508 *Collegiata of St. Nicholas *Santa Maria del Piangato *St Benedict *Oratory of the GonfaloneGuida, page 154.

Other buildings

*''Palazzo del Podestà'' (1255) built in white stone from Vallemontagnana and subsequently modified several times. It has a distinctive bridge structure, a memory of the stream which once flowed under it. The central arcade has frescoes from the 13th-14th centuries portraying warriors, and an enigmatic Wheel of Fortune moved by a feminine figure. *Sturinalto Fountain (1285), designed by Jacopo di Grondolo, who was inspired by the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia. *Communal Palace (c. 1350, rebuilt in 1690). It was the residence of the Chiavelli family, lords of the city until 1435. In the courtyard is a ''lapidarium'' with fragments of buildings of the ancient Roman cities of ''Attidium'' ( Attiggio), ''Tuficum'' ( Borgo Tufico) and '' Sentinum'' ( Sassoferrato). * Pinacoteca Civica Bruno Malajoli displayed in the former Hospital (Spedale di Santa Maria del Buon Gesù) - The hospital was first built in 1456. The art collection of the Pinacoteca were moved here in 1994. The collection contains works by Rainaldetto di Ranuccio of Spoleto, Master of San Agostino, Master of San Emiliano, Master of the Magi ( Fra Giovanni di Bartolomeo), Maestro dei Beati Becchetti, Puccio di Simone, Allegretto Nuzi, Francescuccio di Cecco Ghissi, Master of Fossato, Master of San Verecondo, Ottaviano Nelli, Master of Staffolo, Antonio da Fabriano, Bicci di Lorenzo, Neri di Bicci; Bernardino di Mariotto, Filippo da Verona, Venanzio da Camerino and Piergentile da Matelica, Simone de Magistris, Domiziano Domiziani, Girolamo or Giacomo Nardini, Andrea Boscoli, Orazio Gentileschi, Ambrogio Monaco, Francesco Podesti, and Gentile da Fabriano. *Loggiato of St. Francis (c. 1450) *Vasari Portico (1316) * Paper and Watermark Museum Fabriano * Villa Marchese del Grillo

Notable people

* Totila, penultimate king of the Ostrogoths, suffered his defeat at Taginae near Fabriano on 1 July 552 AD. * Gentile da Fabriano, 15th-century painter, whose most famous work, an oil painting of the Epiphany, is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. * Saint John dal Bastone 12th-century Silvestrine monk, born in Paterno. * Francesco Stelluti, co-founder of the Accademia dei Lincei, born in Fabriano in 1577 * Jessica Rizzo (born 1965), pornographic actress and businesswoman.

References

*''(Incorporates text from Bill Thayer's Gazetteer of Italy, by permission.)''

External links

Fabriano official websiteFabriano Storica - history, art, culture, legend, curiosityMade in Fabriano Academy