Enter the town via one of the main sights – the Arco di Augusto. This Roman arch unfortunately was deprived of its upper storey in the 15th century, when the town was besieged by Federico di Montefeltro, but the part that remains is still substantial. 

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 kilometres (7 miles) southeast of Pesaro, located where the Via Flaminia reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by population after Ancona and Pesaro.

HIGHLIGHTS

Fano is a town and beach resort on the Adriatic Sea at the north of the Le Marche region, south-east of Pesaro.

Unusually for the resorts along this part of the coast, the history of Fano dates back 2,000 years – it was at one time the largest roman settlement on the Adriatic – and there are some interesting Roman and 16th century buildings and monuments to visit in the old part of the town.

Fano Cathedral

The origins of Fano Cathedral on Via Arco di Augusto probably date back to the 10th century but the current construction is from 1140.  The cathedral was designed by Magister Rainerus, as seen on the ancient inscription inside the church.

The cathedral has a typical romanesque style façade of brick and sandstone while the interior has three naves with low vaulted ceilings, and massive pillars. Among the sculptures in the church note in particular so-called „Chitarist sarcophagus”.

Court of Malatesta

Among the other notable buildings of Fano the Court of Malatesta stands out. The building comprising a series of structures built and converted by Galeotto I (1299-1385) after his appointment as Papal Vicar in 1357. Later they became the residences of the Governors and the General Court.

After several years of substantial neglect, the buildings were restored by Alberto Calza Bini (1881-1957) to make them the home of the local Savings Bank (1930). There are still a couple of rooms with 14th century vaulted ceilings and in these rooms there are paintings that make up the collection of the „Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Fano“.

Among these painting note especially the „Marriage of the Virgin“ by Guercino [1591-1666] (1649), a „Madonna and Child“ attributed to Giovanni Santi (1433-1494),  a „Saint Jerome and the Angel “ attributed to Lorenzo Garbieri (1580-1654), and various portraits of religious and secular subjects.

Malatesta Palace

Next stop is the Malatesta Palace, with its wide portico having slender stone columns and capitals with the characteristic pink Malatesta four petals, four light windows in brick and a small lancet coeval. This palace is one of the buildings erected on the orders of Pandolfo III between 1414 and 1421 by an unknown architect who was linked to the late gothic style of the Milan School.

Main sights

Religious structures

• Fano 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 is similar to the original. The interior has a nave and two aisles. No remnants of the town’s namesake temple have been uncovered, nor of the basilica we are told that Vitruvius built there.
• San Domenico
• San Pietro in Valle:
• San Paterniano:(16th century) with a Renaissance cloister.
• San Francesco: church housing the tombs of Pandolfo III Malatesta (designed by Leon Battista Alberti) and his first wife Paola Bianca Malatesta.
• Santa Maria Nuova:(1521) Church has an ancient portal and two works by Perugino (Annunciation of Fano and Fano Altarpiece, the latter including perhaps an intervention by Raphael).

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.

Secular structures

• Arco d’Augusto: The upper story of this Roman gate was destroyed in a siege conducted on the order of Pope Pius II in 1463, although a bas-relief of it was made by Bernardino di Pietro da Carona in 1513 on an adjacent wall of the annexed church and the loggia of St. Michael, the former having a noteworthy Renaissance portal.
• Corte Malatestiana: built after 1357 by Galeotto I Malatesta. The 14th-century section includes 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 1413–23. 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.
• Rocca Malatestiana: (Malatesta Castle) was 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 Pandolfo Malatesta. The now missing mastio was erected in 1452. Here Sigismondo’s son, Roberto, was besieged by Papal Troops in 1463 and signed the peace treaty that ended the Malatesta domination of Fano.
• Museo Civico of Fano: (Archeological Museum and Art Gallery), located inside the Palazzo Malatestiano, contains paintings by Guercino, Michele Giambono, and Giovanni Santi.
• Palazzo del Podestà or della Ragione (built from 1229 in Romanesque-Gothic style). The interiors are in Neoclassicist style, and it houses a museum with archaeological findings, coins, medals, and an art gallery with works by Guido Reni, Domenichino and others.
• Fontana della Fortuna (Fountain of Fortune) (17th century).

Culture

• Fano dei Cesari is held annually in July or August for a week.^[5] During the week there are a variety of cultural events ending with a parade in Roman costumes and chariot races.
• The Fano Jazz by The Sea festival is held annually for one week.
• The library, the Biblioteca Federiciana, was established on 17 November 1720.