Our first full day in Italy was Sunday. Since we were a bit organized in the Airbnb, we drove to Fano to visit Francesco and Doni. We arrived slightly early so we went to Piazza Venti Settembre. Coincidentally, while there we saw Francesco and Doni walking from the market back to their house! We all walked back to the house before talking a tour around Fano. Here we all are at the start of our walk.
Fano is a port city, and a fishing port. We walked down to the sea. Here we are with the port behind us on the other side of the street.
Canale Albani is an artificial canal that takes part of the Metauro River and splits it off.
The entire length of the canal is over 2 miles; we were just in the area where it reaches the water. A pedestrian bridge, Ponte Mosè, crosses the canal. Paul, of course, was interested in the structure.
A few pictures above, looking down the canal and out to the sea, there is a green tower at the end of the breakwater. This is a small lighthouse to guide boats into the canal.
Also on the breakwater is a memorial to fisherman lost at sea. It is a sculpture of a wife and baby looking out to sea in stormy weather.
The statue is actually rather small. In this picture we were looking back from the lighthouse towards shore. Doni and Francesco are near the statue.
The breakwater itself has interesting concrete structures around the edges. The irregular shape this creates must break up waves better than a solid surface.
We then took a walk along the canal. Although it was unseasonably warm, Fano does have a milder climate than New England. There are many flowers still in bloom there, including these ones along the canal.
You might remember some photographs of the old Roman-era city walls from our last trip. Here we are by one of the old archway entrances to the city, Porta Della Mandria, built in 220 BCE.
As we continued our walk inside Fano, we found a plaque on a wall. It quotes Dante. As described on this page, On the Footsteps of Dante Alighieri, the plaque talks about an incident when the ruling Malatesta family has two men from Fano eliminated. That linked page describes multiple spots in Le Marche that Dante was involved with. Although we didn't realize it at the time, we visited many of these. Later in this trip report you will see some pictures from Fonte Avellana, Monte Catria, Gradara, and Monte Conero. Our previous visit includes pictures of the Regional Park of Monte S. Bartolo and of Senigallia.
We will return to Fano later, but that evening we went back to Mondavio and our Airbnb rental to finish settling in for our 2-week stay.
Updated December 2023