Hotel San Giovanni (Fabriano)

Cathedral San Ciriaco

by JLBG

The cathedral is said to occupy the site of a temple of Venus, who is mentioned by Catullus and Juvenal as the tutelary deity of the place. No remains have been excavated yet.

The first church seems to have been built in the 8th century on a Latin cross design. It was in the 12th replaced by a larger cathedral dedicated to Saint Judas Cyriacus. It is a fine Romanesque building in grey stone, built in the form of a Greek cross, with a dodecagonal dome over the center slightly altered by Margaritone d'Arezzo in 1270. The façade has a Gothic portal, ascribed to Giorgio da Como (1228 ), which was intended to have a lateral arch on each side.

The interior, which has a crypt under each transept, in the main preserves its original character. It has ten columns which are attributed to the temple of Venus, and there are good screens of the 12th century, and other sculptures. The church was beautifully restored in the 1980s. I will add close-ups of the cathedral when I will have time to climb to the old town (2006 ?)

Porta Pia

by xristos83

This was the door to the city when coming by foot. It's located next to a pentagonal shaped maritime building (built I think in the 17th century) called "La Mole", where many exhibits are shown. If you are walking from the train station into the center of town (a 20-30 minute walk), la mole and porta pia are halfway between along the water.

Statue of Emperor Trajan

by Airpunk

Emperor Trajan had a great impact on Ancona. It was under his rule that Ancona became a more important port town. He ordered that the port should be expanded and made Ancona a wealthy trade town. Among the monuments dedicated to his roman emperor are the famous arch as well as a well-known statue at the Via XXIX Settembre.

Cathedral

by Willettsworld

The city's small cathedral stands on top of a hill that overlooks the city and port. It was built on the site of a 4th century BC temple to Aphrodites Euplea and a 6th century church dedicated to St Lawrence that was destroyed by an earthquake and Saracen attacks in 847/848 - some remains of these are still visible beneath the present cathedral.

Construction of the present building began shortly afterwards and it was consecrated in 1128 and completed in 1189. It is a fine Romanesque building in grey stone, built in the form of a Greek cross, with a dodecagonal dome over the center slightly altered by Margaritone d'Arezzo in 1270. The façade has a Gothic portal, ascribed to Giorgio da Corno (1228), which was intended to have a lateral arch on each side.

Initially it was built as a private church for noble feudal families but was raised to the status of a cathedral at end of the 11th century when the remains of the city's patron saint, St Judas Cyriacus, were brought here and buried in the crypt, together with those of St Marcellinus and St Liberius.

ANCONA

by Pinat

"PEACEFUL CITY OF MARCHE"

My first visit to Ancona was a random student visit. I was travelling with some friends with a rental car. We couldn't find a decent place to stay with our student budgets and were advised to go to Ancona and luckily we went. I don't remember the name of the hostel we stayed at but it was the best hostel I'd stayed at in Italy. We were just passing by, coming from Trieste aiming at Roma so Ancona was not that interesting at the time so we just spent a few hours in the city.

I was back in the city in May 2009 to find a high-school penfriend of mine. We'd been penfriends since late 1990s and never had the chance to meet. We finally did last month and this time my dear friend, Francesca was so kind to show me the beauties of Ancona. I again had just one day but a more efficient one this time.

Maybe it is the port reminded me of the port in my hometown, Izmir, or maybe it is the sunny weather I found after chilly spring days of Ankara, maybe it is the friendship of Francesca but now I know that I want to revisit this city.