Fano
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- This article is about the Italian town. For the Danish island, see Fanø.
Fano (pop. 57,374) is a town of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort 12km southeast of Pesaro, located where the Via Flaminia reaches the Adriatic Sea.
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 BC, 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 AD, at the entrance to the town, and it is still standing. However, no remnants of the town's namesake temple have been uncovered, nor of the basilica we are told that Vitruvius built there.
A Roman gate also has survived, at least in part; the upper story of the 3‑story structure 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.
External link
- Fano homepage (http://www.comune.fano.ps.it/) (in Italian)it:Fano