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'Fabriano' is a town and ''comune'' of Ancona province in the Italian region of the Marche, at , at 325 m (1066 ft) above sea-level. It lies in the Esino valley 44 km (27 mi) upstream and SW of Jesi; and 15 km ENE of Fossato di Vico and 36 km (22 mi) E of Gubbio (both in Umbria). According to the 2003 census, Fabriano's population was 30,300: its location on the main highway and rail line from Umbria to the Adriatic make it a mid-sized regional center in the Apennines.

Contents

History

Main sights

Churches

Other buildings

Famous natives of Fabriano

Fractions

External links

History

Fabriano appears to have been founded in the early Middle Ages by the inhabitants of a small Roman town 5 km (3 mi) S at Attiggio (Latin ''Attidium''), of which some slight remains and inscriptions are extant. Fabriano itself was one of the earliest places in Europe to make high-quality paper on an industrial scale, starting in the 13th century, and the town even today has a reputation for fine watermarked paper. This led to Fabriano's prosperity in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and was also one of the factors that led to the establishment of nearby Foligno in Umbria, 55 km (34 mi) SSW, as the earliest printing center in Italy in the late 15th century.

Main sights

Fabriano's wealth and commitment to the fine arts in the late medieval period have left it with many monuments.

Churches

★ The 'Cathedral of St. Venantius' (14th century, rebuilt in 1607-1617). From the Baroque restoration are the stucco decoration of the interior and the canvasses by Gregorio Preti, Salvator Rosa, Giovan Francesco Guerrieri, Giuseppe Puglia and Orazio Gentileschi. To the original Cathedral belong the polygonal apse, the cloister and the St. Lawrence Chapel, with frescoes from of Allegretto di Nuzio (c. 1360). Also important are the frescoes with histories of the Holy Cross by the Folignate Giovanni di Corraduccio (1415).

★ 'San Domenico'

★ 'Sts. Blaise and Romuald'

★ 'Sant'Onofrio'

★ 'St. Philip'

★ The 'Benedictine Abbey'

★ 'Sant'Agostino'

★ 'St. Catherine'

★ 'Collegiata of St. Nicholas'

★ 'Santa Maria del Piangato'

★ 'St. Benedict'

★ 'Oratory of the Gonfalone'

Other buildings

★ 'Palazzo del Podestà' (1255) built in white stone from Vallemontagnana and subsequently modified several times. It has a characteristical bridge structure, a memory of the stream which once flew under it. The central arcade has frescoes from the 13th-14th centuries portraying warriors and an enigmatic Wheel of Fortune moved by a feminine figure.

★ 'Sturinalto Fountain' (1285), designed by Jacopo di Grondolo, also author of the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia.

★ 'Communal Palace' (c. 1350, rebuilt in 1690). It was the residence of the Chiavelli family, lords of the city until 1435. In the court is a ''lapidarium'' with fragments of buildings of the ancient Roman cities of ''Attidium'' (Attiggio), ''Tuficum'' (Borgo Tufico) and ''Sentinum'' (Sassoferrato).

★ The former 'Hospital of St. Mary of Good Jesus' (1456)

★ 'Loggiato of St. Francis' (c. 1450)

★ 'Vasari Portico' (1316)

★ 'Museum of Paper'

Famous natives of Fabriano

Gentile da Fabriano, 15th century painter, whose most famous work, an oil painting of the Epiphany, is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Fractions

Campodonico, Serradica, Cancelli, Melano, Marischio, San Donato, Bastia, Vallina, Cupo, Nebbiano, Collegiglioni, Attiggio, Collamato, Argignano, San Michele, Albacina, Borgo Tufico, Moscano, Poggio San Romualdo, San Giovanni, Castelletta, Vigne, S. Elia, Precicchie, Valleremita, Campodiegoli, Grotte, Marenella, Coccore, Cacciano.

External links

★ Official Site

★ Museo della Carta (Paper making museum)

★ Mapquest - Fabriano

★ Bill Thayer's site

★ ItalianVisits.com
''(Incorporates text from Bill Thayer's Gazetteer of Italy, by permission.)''