Fano
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- This article is about the Italian town. For the Danish island, see Fanø.
Fano is a town and comune of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort 12 km southeast of Pesaro, located where the Via Flaminia reaches the Adriatic Sea.
History
An ancient town of Umbria, it was known as Fanum Fortunae after a temple of Fortunae located there. Its first mention in history only dates from 49 BCE, when Julius Caesar held it, along with Pisaurum and Ancona. Caesar Augustus established a colonia, and built a wall, some parts of which remain. Augustus also built an arch, in 2 CE, at the entrance to the town, and it is still standing.
Fano was detroyed by Vitiges' Ostrogoths in 538 CE and was rebuilt by the Byzantines, becoming the capital of the maritime Pentapolis ("Five Cities") that included also Rimini, Pesaro, Senigallia and Ancona. In 754 it was donated to the Popes by the Frank kings.
The Malatesta became lords of the city in 1356 with Galeotto I Malatesta, which was nominally only a vicar of the Popes. In 1463 the city was besieged by Papal troops under Federico III da Montefeltro, and returned to the Papal administration. It was later part of the shortly lived state of Cesare Borgia, and then part of the duchy of the della Roveres in the Marche.
During the Napoleonic Wars it suffered heavy spoliations; the city had an active role in the Risorgimento. In World War II it was massively bombed by Allied airplanes.
Main sights
- The Roman gate called Arco d'Augusto. The upper storey was destroyed in a siege conducted on the order of Pope Pius II in 1463, although a bas-relief of it was immediately made on an adjacent wall. No remnants of the town's namesake temple have been uncovered, nor of the basilica we are told that Vitruvius built there. Annexed to the arch are the church and the loggia of St. Michael, the former having a noteworthy Renaissance portal.
- The Corte Malatestiana, built after 1357 by Galeotto I Malatesta. The 14th century section include 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 1413-1423. 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.
- The Malatesta Castle (Rocca Malatestiana), 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 Sigismondo Malatesta. The now missing mastio was erected in 1452. Here Sigismondo's son, Roberto, was besieged by Papal Troops in 1463 and signed the peacy that ended the Malatesta domination of Fano.
- The 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 it similar to the original. The interior has a nave and two aisles.
- Palazzo del Podestà or della Ragione (built from 1229 in Romanesque-Gothic style). The interiors are in Neoclassicist style, and houses a museum with archaeological findings, coins, medals, and an art gallery with works by Guido Reni, Domenichino and others.
- the church of St. Francis, housing the tombs of Pandolfo III Malatesta (designed by Leon Battista Alberti and his first wife Paola Bianca Malatesta.
- the church of Santa Maria Nuova (1521). It has an ancient portal and some works by [Raphael]] and Perugino.
- the church of San Paterniano (16th century) with a Renaissance cloister.
- the Fountain of Fortune (17th century)
External link
- [Fano homepage] ()