Europe
Italy
Fano
church of Saint Dominic

A brief description.

Fano is a town and comune of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy, 12 km southeast of Pesaro, located where the Via Flaminia reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is today the third city in the region by population after Ancona and Pesaro.

An ancient town of Marche, it was known as Fanum Fortunae after a temple of Fortuna 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. In the AD 2 Augustus also built an arch (which is still standing) at the entrance to the town.

Fano was destroyed by Vitiges' Ostrogoths in AD 538 and it 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, 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,

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 it suffered heavy spoliations; the city had an active role in the Risorgimento. In World War I Fano was several times bombed by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. During World War II it was massively bombed by Allied airplanes due to hit the strategic railway and street bridges crossing the Metauro river, suffering also the destruction of all its bell towers by the Nazi occupation troops when they withdrew.

Fano's main attractions include:

1.    The Arch of Augustus in Fano.

2.    The Malatesta Castle (Rocca Malatestiana), partially destroyed in 1944.

3.    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.

4.    Palazzo del Podestà or della Ragione,built from 1229 in Romanesque-Gothic style.

5.    The Corte Malatestiana, built after 1357 by Galeotto I Malatesta.

6.    The church of St. Francis, housing the tombs of Pandolfo III Malatesta
 (designed by Leon Battista Alberti) and his first wife Paola Bianca Malatesta.

7.     The church of Santa Maria Nuova (1521). It has an ancient portal and some works by 

        Raphael and Perugino.

8.    The church of San Paterniano (16th century) with a Renaissance cloister.

9.    The Fountain of Fortune (17th century).

10.  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.

11.  Church of San Domenico. After renovation the church houses the Pinacoteca
 of  religious art, opened  10 July 2007.

Source: Wikipedia and others.

Philately

The churh of Saint Dominic in Fano.
After restauration reopend as Pinacoteca of religious art
on 10 July 2007.

Italy 2007. Postmark Fano 10.07.2007.

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