Osimo

Osimo
Comune
Comune di Osimo

Musone Gate.
Osimo

Location of Osimo in Italy

Coordinates: 43°29′N 13°29′E / 43.483°N 13.483°E / 43.483; 13.483Coordinates: 43°29′N 13°29′E / 43.483°N 13.483°E / 43.483; 13.483
Country Italy
Region Marche
Province Ancona (AN)
Frazioni Osimo Stazione, Passatempo, Casenuove, Campocavallo, Padiglione, Abbadia, San Paterniano, Santo Stefano, San Biagio, Santa Paolina
Government
  Mayor Simone Pugnaloni (since June 2014) (P.D. Democratid Party)
Area
  Total 105 km2 (41 sq mi)
Population [1]
  Total 34,957
  Density 330/km2 (860/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Osimani
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 60027
Dialing code 071
Patron saint St. Joseph of Cupertino
Saint day September 18
Website Official website

Osimo (anc. Vetus Auximum) is a town and comune of the Marche, Italy, in the province of Ancona, 15 kilometres (9 mi) south of that town by rail. It is on a hill near the Adriatic Sea.

Silk-spinning and the raising of cocoons are carried on.

History

Vetus Auximum was founded by the same Greek colonists of Ancona; later it was contested by the Gauls and the Piceni, until conquered by the Romans, who used it as a fortress for their northern Picenum settlement starting from 174 BC. The walls were made of large rectangular stones which are still visible in some locations. It was a colony until 157 BC. The family of Pompey were its protectors and resisted Caesar in 49 BC. Inscriptions and monuments in its town square attest to the importance of Osimo during imperial times.[2]

In the 6th century it was besieged twice in the course of the Gothic War, by Belisarius and Totila; the Byzantine historian Procopius said it was the leading town of Picenum.

Osimo was a free commune by 1100 A.D. It was later returned to the Pope by Cardinal Gil de Albornoz. In 13991430 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 the unification of Italy in 1861.

Main sights

Osimo retains a portion of its ancient town wall (2nd century BCE).

The restored Romanesque-Gothic cathedral (8th-12th centuries) has a portal with sculptures of the 13th century, an old crypt, a fine bronze font of the 16th century and a series of portraits of all the bishops of the old diocese of Osimo. The baptistery is from the early 17th century and also has a notable baptismal font.

The town hall contains a number of statues found on the site of the ancient forum. The second oldest church in Osimo is that of San Giuseppe da Copertino (Saint Joseph of Cupertino), built in the 13th century.

Under the town is a large series of tunnels with esoteric bas-reliefs.

The new castle (1489), of which parts remain today, was built by Baccio Pontelli.

People from Osimo

Twin towns

See also

Notes

  1. Comune di Osimo, project "Prevenzione Sicurezza" in Vivi la città
  2. Ashby 1911, p. 50.
  3. "Bruno Giacconi". Sports Reference. Retrieved 18 January 2015.

References

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