Pesaro

Pesaro (pā`zärō), city (1991 pop. 88,713), capital of Pesaro e Urbino prov., in the Marche region, central Italy, on the Adriatic Sea at the mouth of the Foglia River. It is an agricultural and industrial center and a seaside resort. Manufactures include musical instruments, motorcylces, refined sulfur, and ceramics. A Roman colony, Pesaro was later one of the cities of the Pentapolis (5th–11th cent.). The house of Malatesta gained power there in the 13th cent.; it was succeeded by the Sforza (15th–16th cent.) and by the dukes of Urbino (16th–17th cent.) In 1631 the city passed directly under the Holy See. Of note in Pesaro are the ducal palace (15th cent.); the municipal museum containing paintings and a fine collection of ceramics; the Rocca Constanza, a fortress of the Sforza; and the Villa Imperiale, which has 16th-century frescoes. The city was the birthplace (1794) of the composer Rossini and has a conservatory of music.

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Pesaro

 ancient Pisorum

City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 90,311), Marche region, north-central Italy. A seaport on the Adriatic Sea, Pesaro was destroyed by the Ostrogoths in AD 536. Rebuilt and fortified by the Byzantine general Belisarius as one of the cities of the Pentapolis, it was sold to the Sforza family in 1445. It became part of the Papal States in 1631. It was the birthplace of composer Gioacchino Rossini in 1792. In World War II Pesaro suffered heavily in the Allied advance of 1944, but many of its old buildings escaped with minor damage. It is a seaside resort surrounded by an agricultural area. Its museum of majolica houses the richest collection in Italy.