Mura Augustee

Fano's Augustan Walls preserve around two thirds of the original Roman defensive circuit around the historic centre. Completed in the early first century AD, they are built with outer courses of sandstone in opus vittatum and an inner core of mortar and stone chips. Twenty-eight cylindrical towers once stood at regular intervals along the walls.

Why it matters

The walls were part of the development of Colonia Julia Fanestris under Augustus. An inscription on the Arch of Augustus records the emperor's gift of the walls, murum dedit. The original circuit measured about 1,760 metres. Its masonry also reflects construction principles described in Vitruvius's De Architectura, though the walls are not attributed to him.

What to notice

The outer face consists of horizontal courses of sandstone blocks of varying heights; the inner core is opus cementicium, mortar mixed with stone chips. Cylindrical towers punctuate the surviving stretches. Porta della Mandria, the secondary Roman gate, retains its stone arch to the springing, with later reconstruction above. The gate once carried the Via Flaminia northward from the city toward Pisaurum, modern Pesaro.

Context and history

The walls were completed under Augustus in 9–10 AD. They were damaged during the Gothic War and later partly demolished as Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta reshaped the city's defences. The outer Porta Maggiore was built in front of the Augustan gate during this later phase. In the 1920s, residents opposed plans to remove the remaining circuit, and Porta della Mandria was uncovered during works in 1925. Its name recalls the herds grazed in the area during the Middle Ages.