History of Fano

The ancient "Fanum" is located at the mouth of Metauro River Valley.

The literary and epigraphic Roman sources about Fano are numerous today, but the first in an absolute sense to talk of the town was Julius Caesar [100-44 BC] (“Bellum Civile”,  1, 12, 4), during the passage of the Rubicon River and his military operations in Central Italy: "[...] Itaque ab Arimino M. Antonium cum cohortibus V at Arretium mittit; Arimino ipse cum duabus [legionibus] subsistit; … Pisanum, Fanum, Anconam singulis cohortibus occupat [...]" - "So he sent Marco Antonio from Rimini to Arezzo with five cohorts. Instead, he stopped at Rimini with two legions, … occupying Pesaro, Fano and Ancona with a single cohort by city ". Caesar, as we see, quoting the city name, calls it "Fanum", but  its full name was "Fanum Fortunae," or  the "Temple of Fortune."

Today, scholars are largely in agreement that the ancient settlement of Fano was born around the temple dedicated to Goddess Fortune, an area that probably was Romanized in ancient times, particularly since it was situated in a strategic position very important in military terms, providing an outlet to the sea of “Via Flaminia”, which, continuing north, led to Pesaro and Rimini. “Fanum”, say some scholars, was therefore a modest village born around a sanctuary of Fortune between the second and first century BC, a “Conciliabulum Civium Romanorum”, or a “square”, a “meeting place” of Roman citizens. Fano was then completely rebuilt by Augustus (63 BC-19 AD) in the Imperial Age, assuming the typical appearance of the Roman colony, characterized from the intersection of two axes, the "cardo" and "decumanus", and also taking the name of "Colonia Julia Fanestris".

Augustus fortified the city with a mighty wall, which allowed access to the city through the "Gate of Augustus” (also known as the “Arch of Augustus) and “Porta della Mandria” [“Gate of Herd"].  On the "Gate of Augustus," was engraved the following inscription: "[...] Imperator Caesar Divi filius Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Consul XIII tribunicia potestate XXXII, XXVI Imperator, Pater Patriae, murum dedit [...]" ( "  Emperor Caesar Augustus, son of the Divine (Caesar), Consul for the thirteenth time, during his thirty tribunicial power, acclaimed emperor for the twenty-sixth time, Father of the Fatherland,  built the walls "). The Roman walls of Augustus have resisted the ravages of time more than medieval walls, and they were also the subject of recent renovations (about this topic, see Nereo Alfieri, “Topografia di ‘Fanum Fortunae’,  in “Atti del Centro studi e documentazione sull’Italia Romana”, Vol. 3, pp. 157 sgg., ).

After the fall of the Roman Empire Fano suffered severe damage during the war between the Byzantines and the Goths, but it then recovered, albeit slowly, ending up under the dominion of the Byzantines and depending in the Exarch of Ravenna.

 

In the Municipal Age, Fano was a centre of bitter struggles, which in the fourteenth century came to be dominated by the Malatesta Seigniory which lasted until 1463. This Lordship was very important for the building development of city; in fact, the Malatesta, as well as build their palaces, extended the city walls, encompassing the nearby villages.

In the years that followed the end of Malatesta Seignoiry, Fano was still the focus of struggles, which included the destruction of many religious buildings which were located outside the walls; the crisis was overcome between the sixteenth and seventeenth century when the city was subjected to the dominion of the Church State; in this period there was a new increase in construction, and the cultural life developed markedly too, with the foundation of academics and libraries.

In the nineteenth century the building activity suffered a moment of stasis, which resumed in the twentieth century, especially with the construction of new residential districts.