|
Osimo
Osimo is a town and comune of the Marche region of Italy, in the province of Ancona. The municipality covers a hilly area located approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of the port city of Ancona and the Adriatic Sea. HistoryVetus Auximum was founded by the same Greek colonists of Ancona; later it was contested by the Gauls and the Picentes until conquered by the Romans, who used it as a fortress for their northern Picenum settlement starting from 174 BCE. The walls were made of large rectangular stones which are still visible in some locations. It was a colony until 157 BCE. The family of Pompey were its protectors and resisted Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Inscriptions and monuments in its town square attest to the importance of Osimo during imperial times.[3] In the 6th century it was besieged twice in the course of the Gothic War (535–554) by Belisarius[4] and Totila; the Byzantine historian Procopius said it was the leading town of Picenum.[3] Osimo was a free commune by 1100 A.D. It was later returned to the Pope by Cardinal Gil de Albornoz. In 1399–1430, it was a fief of the Malatesta family, who built a rocca, or "castle", which is no longer intact. Osimo was again made a part of the Papal States, and remained so until Italian unification in 1861. Main sights
Osimo retains a portion of its ancient town wall (2nd century BCE). Under the town is a large series of tunnels with esoteric bas-reliefs. The town hall contains a number of statues found on the site of the ancient forum. The new castle (1489), of which parts remain today, was built by Baccio Pontelli. Among the churches in the town are the following:[5]
People
Twin townsSee alsoNotes
References
Bibliography
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
