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Fano and an Anniversary

Back at our headquarters in Fano, we were excited to explore the little park and plaza that this webcam calls 'Old Town'. When we visited in 2018, this area was closed off for renovations. It can be reached by going through the Arch of Augustus from the 'Centro' (historic downtown). You might recall that the arch dates from AD 9 (over 2000 years ago), and although damaged in 1463 much of it still remains.

Anne is standing on the left in front of a line of stone archways, and in the center of the photo is a large archway. Through the arch can be seen the remains of an old city wall.

Looking back at the arch from the other side:

A view of the Arch of Augustus from the Old Town Plaza side.

The arch was built during the reign of Augustus, the founder of the Roman Empire (which is the successor to the Roman Republic). Augustus was also known as Octavian, which is why this statue shows the name as Caesar Octavian Augustus. He must have stood like this a lot; just about every statue you can find of him has Augustus standing with his right arm raised and garments draped over his left arm. The statue is clearly based off of the famous Augustus of Prima Porta.

A statue of Augustus, as described above, on a pedestal with some bushes around the bottom and trees along the edges of the photo.

There are two small 3D maps in the plaza. One shows the outline of the city in the time of Augustus. On the near side of the map is the Arch of Augustus. Also represented are some of the major roadways and some civic buildings such as an arena. In 2018, Francesco and we had an underground tour that was of the building furthest away in this photograph. And yes, these buildings are underground now. Fano had built on top of itself. (You can scroll down on this page from 2018 to see more about that tour.)

Looking down on a diorama of Roman era Fano. It shows the outside wall, some streets, and some arena style buildings.

The second map shows the configuration of the medieval era city. The Roman walls are still visible, but the old buildings are gone. The Arch of Augustus has been partially consumed by a building. And new expanded walls have been built, including the Porta Maggiore which is in front of the Arch of Augustus.

Looking down on a diorama of Medieval Fano. It shows the walls and a large handful of building positions.

This is what remains of the Porta Maggiore.

Two tall walls set roughly 25 feet apart that were once the walls of the city entrance.

The part of the wall labeled E at the bottom of the 3D map is called the Nuti Bastion, after the architect who designed a new (in the late 1400s) gate and bastion.

A grassy moat is on the right, and a roughly circular tower rises from the left side of it. A wall can be seen continuing towards the gate walls. There are many trees on the left of the photo.

There is public access to the top of the bastion and wall, which gives a nice view of the plaza. Anne is looking at the closer diorama map.

View of the Old Town Plaza from a slightly elevated position. Anne can be seen looking at one of the dioramas. The statue of Augustus is on the left, and the Arch of Augustus is in the center distance. Old buildings are on the right.

There seem to have been only two entrances to the city in Roman times, based on that 3D map. The second entrance was Porta Della Mandria. 'Mandria' means herd, which is an apparent reference to herders using the grassy area outside of the gate.

A gate in the wall to Fano, with a path leading up to it. There are some large stones on the side of the path and some tall trees can be seen.

In at least one spot where the Roman wall no longer exists, the location is marked so we can know where it was. This website page provides more information about the walls and gates.

Anne standing on a road with a section in light colored stone that represents the position of the old Roman wall.

A stone in the road that states this is the former line of the Roman wall.

There are other old buildings and ruins in Fano. One of those is the former Church of San Francesco. It seems to have been built around 1300. The building had been damaged over the years by earthquakes and fire, and proposals to repurpose the location never took off. So now it sits, with no roof and a grassy floor. It is likely the site of some occasional outdoor events, based on the chairs that are visible.

Looking through an empty doorway into a large space with columned walls on the sides but no roof. There are some rows of chairs in the center, plus some additional chairs stacked along one side.

A decoration outside the former church, with what looks like a memorial to a dead person.

Despite Anne's hope to try all the ciocolata calda options in Fano, we only actually had two. This one was in Caffè Centrale, and was okay. (The other was shown on a previous page of this report.)

Paul sitting at a table in Caffè Centrale in Fano, with a hot chocolate in front of him. On the wall behind him is a print of a what looks like a ping pong ball with a smiley face painted on it in runny ink.

A final picture from Fano for this page is of these boring cement safety blocks that are not very boring because of the cute birds painted on them.

Paul walking away from us on in a bike lane, and on the right is a row of rounded cement blocks. Each block has a stylized bird painted on it.

We also had an excuse to have some pizza (of course, an excuse is never needed for pizza). Both our wedding anniversary and Francesco's and Doni's wedding anniversary are in October. Our little celebration was earlier, and now it was time for their anniversary dinner. They opted for pizza. We went to Farina Pizzeria in Pesaro. ('Farina' simply means 'flour' in Italian.) Pesaro, like Fano, is a port city. The seaside was quiet at 7:30 PM in October.

A view of the seaside in Pesaro, with a Ferris wheel visible, buildings with lights, and the moon obscured by clouds.

Here we are at the restaurant: Florinda, Donatella, Franceso, and Paul. Anne is taking the picture.

4 people sitting at a table with pizzas in front of each, plus one in front of an empty seat.

But what are those pizzas in front of Flo and Doni? It is a type that is very popular in Pesaro, and is only available in Pesaro: The Rossini Pizza. It is basically a regular pizza with tomato sauce and mozzarella that is then topped with slices of hard-boiled egg and drizzles of mayonnaise. Despite our initial skepticism, we found it to actually be pretty good. This particular version, we were told, was a bit heavy on the mayonnaise and tasted a bit like an egg salad sandwich.

Rossini Pizza - see description above

When we got back to their house, Flo had made Zuppa Inglese, which despite translating to 'English Soup' is actually a layered dessert. You might also notice the cute heart-shaped balloons on the floor in the distance. They were an excellent decoration.

Bowls of a custard and cake dessert on a table with a white table cloth.