Fabriano

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Comune di Fabriano
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Marche
Province	Ancona (AN)
Mayor	Roberto Sorci (since June 10, 2002)

Elevation	325 m
Area	269.91 km²
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2004)	30,676
- Density	114/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	43°20′N 12°55′E
Gentilic	Fabrianesi
Dialing code	0732
Postal code	60044
Frazioni	see list
Patron	St. John the Baptist
- Day	June 24
Website: www.piazzalta.it

Fabriano is a town and comune of Ancona province in the Italian region of the Marche, at 43°20′N 12°54′E, 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.

1 History
2 Main sights
- 2.1 Churches
- 2.2 Other buildings
3 Famous natives of Fabriano
4 Fractions
- 4.1 External links

[edit] 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.

[edit] Main sights

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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.