Fano

Fano (fä`nō), city (1991 pop. 53,909), in the Marche, central Italy, on the Adriatic Sea. It is a fishing port, a seaside resort, and an agricultural and silk-manufacturing center. An important town in Roman times, it was the scene of a victory by Rome over Carthage (207 B.C.). Fano was destroyed by the Goths in the 6th cent. A.D. but later flourished under the Malatesta family of Rimini. It was under papal control from the mid-15th cent. to 1860. The first printing press in Italy to use Arabic type was set up (1514) in Fano. Noteworthy structures include the Arch of Augustus (1st cent. A.D.), the Malatesta palace, and the Church of Santa Maria Nuova (16th–18th cent.).