The square was formerly called Platea Magna because it was the political center of the city since its inception. With several monuments realized over a period ranging from the Middle Ages to the Baroque, they enclose the peculiarities of these art forms.

The first monument encountered, or rather the one that stands out the most, is the fountain in the center of the square, called Sturinalto, which means a fountain that pushes water upwards.

The city council, during the 13th century, decided to erect a fountain in the center of the Piazza del Comune that would reflect the civic and political power. The work was built in 1285 by Jacopo di Grondalo, who designed it inspired by the Fontana Maggiore which was already present in Perugia, built a decade earlier.

The north side is entirely occupied by a thirteenth-century structure which was the Palazzo del Podestà and which is still the symbol of the city today. It was commissioned starting from 1255 in a symbolic point: the point where the two original inhabited nuclei of the place and the four main districts from which the city originated met.

Unlike the surrounding buildings, where the red of the bricks with which they are built stands out, this building was constructed of white stone. Characteristic is the large archway visible on the main façade, which was designed because a stream passed under it at the time of construction. Under the arch, it is possible to admire the frescoes by Ventura di Francesco, which are still partially preserved. In the eastern area of the square, it is possible to admire the Palazzo del Comune (Town Hall), which was built around 1350. It was the seat of the Chiavelli lords, who ruled the city until 1435. From its courtyard, it is possible to access the Teatro Gentile da Fabriano.

The south side, however, is occupied by the sixteenth-century Palazzo Vescovile (Episcopal Palace), which was formerly the seat of the Priors. Beside it stands the Torre Civica di Fabriano (Civic Tower of Fabriano). The Loggiato San Francesco consists of 19 arches and overlooks the Piazza del Comune. The prospective corridor that is created once under the arcades is very evocative. It was designed in the 15th century by the architect Rossellino with renovations up until the 18th century.

At the Ospedale del Buon Gesù (Hospital of the Good Jesus), a structure from 1456, there is the “Bruno Molajoli” Civic Art Gallery, which consists of two collections: the historical one, which gathers masterpieces from churches and abbeys of Fabriano and its surroundings from 1200 to 1700. Allegretto Nuzi, the Master of Campodonico, the Master of Staffolo, the Master of Sant’Agostino, Gentileschi, Antonio da Fabriano, Cades, Master of the Magi, Donatello with the Saint Peter Martyr, etc…

Inside, the 20th-century art collection, Ester's House
Recognition to Ester Merloni who loved art and whose passion led her to possess a prestigious collection that she had set up in her home. The collection was donated by the Family to the Municipality of Fabriano and exhibited at the “B. Molajoli” Civic Art Gallery in Fabriano, constituting the section of Modern and Contemporary Art. The Collection includes works by the greatest exponents of 20th-century Italian art, from Burri to Boldini, from Balla to Capogrossi, from De Pisis to De Chirico, but also Savinio, Manzù, Dorazio, Fontana, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Afro Basaldella, Quirino Ruggeri, Edgardo Mannucci, Turcato, and many others.

The Teatro Gentile di Fabriano presents itself as a true chest and treasure of art as well as one of the most beautiful, elegant, and functional theaters in the Marche region and Central Italy. Dating back to 1884, it is one of the most important theaters in the Marche, also from an acoustic point of view. The stalls are horseshoe-shaped, there are four tiers of boxes with a gallery, separated by bands decorated with vegetal motifs and griffins created by Luigi Samoggia from Fabriano.

The interior and the curtain are embellished by paintings by Luigi Serra from 1880. The curtain consists of a symbolic painting of the “Triumph of Gentile da Fabriano” with backlighting effects. The entrance is neoclassical in style, and the capacity is about 700 seats. The theater was inaugurated in May 1884 with the performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida. The visual impact upon entering is highly suggestive, due to its elegance and scenic effect, a true architectural jewel, enriched by its excellent acoustics appreciated and made known by the many musicians, actors, and artists, both nationally and internationally, who have performed in this setting.

The first records date back to 1160. Due to the multiple renovations that followed over the centuries, the last one between 1607 and 1617 by the Urbino architect Muzio Oddi, to whom the current appearance is attributed, only meager architectural elements remain of the ancient fourteenth-century structure, such as the external line of the apse and some vestiges of ancient chapels. To the right of the choir stalls is the “Chapel of S. Lorenzo” (St. Lawrence), whose cycle of fourteenth-century frescoes created by the artist Allegretto Nuzi from Fabriano, depicts stories from the life of the Saint.

From the sacristy, you access the Chapel of the Holy Cross and St. John the Evangelist, frescoed by Giovanni di Corraduccio and the Master of S. Verecondo. The interior of the church presents a single wide nave with six chapels on each side, each of which is adorned with precious stuccoes, gilded friezes, and embellished with works by the most celebrated 17th-century painters such as Orazio Gentileschi with the Stories of the Passion, Salvator Rosa with St. Jerome and St. Nicholas of Tolentino, Giovan Francesco Guerrieri with St. Philip in ecstasy, the Puglia with Christ interceding for the souls in Purgatory, Giuseppe Bastiani with the Last Supper in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and the stories of St. John the Baptist, Gregorio Preti with David and Goliath and the Return of the Prodigal Son. In 1985, the artist Guelfo Bianchini from Fabriano created a marvelous stained-glass window depicting St. Venantius, which embellishes the Cathedral dedicated to him.

The Oratorio della Carità (Oratory of Charity), decorated at the end of the 16th century with a precious fresco cycle, depicting the works of Spiritual and Corporal Mercy, created by Filippo Bellini.

Filippo Bellini, from Urbino, executed the paintings between 1598 and 1602. One can observe the strong influence of Barocci, a certain effectiveness in tonality, in the manner of coloring and draping of the garments and fabrics, in the backgrounds treated through the representation of events and anecdotes, all executed with light and rapid touches and with soft lights that fade. The subjects of the 14 panels refer to themes taken from the Bible and the Gospel, exemplifying the works of Mercy. On the altar is the canvas of the Deposition, with a more intense color consistency than the wall paintings; the vestments always have that soft, almost faded color typical of Barocci's Mannerism, with the refined color change (cangiantismo) of the colors.

Here we are in the area of the Church of San Benedetto and the Benedictine Monastery. The construction of this splendid Oratory began in 1610 by the will of the Marian confraternity. The goal was to create a place of worship that was no less than the Compagnia della Carità, which in those years was completing the splendid Oratorio della Carità. Substantial funds were needed to build it, and the fundraising lasted a long time. Thanks to the offerings of the people and the donations from merchants and benefactors, it was completed only after 33 years.

When we enter, we are immediately struck by a surprising scenario due to its beauty: a coffered ceiling entirely immersed in gold and silver in its masterful carving and workmanship. The author is Leonard Chailleu, known in Italian as Leonardo Scaglia, called 'the Frenchman,' highly skilled in this type of work. There are 15 coffers where the Assumption of Mary into Heaven stands out among the gold decorations. Then we come to the altar canvas by Antonio Viviani from Urbino, an artist much appreciated in Roman circles at the time, called 'Il Sordo' (The Deaf) because of the hearing loss he partly suffered from working too much in cool and very humid environments. In the artistic context, we are surrounded by an interesting and rich fresco cycle, 12 canvases concerning the stories of the Virgin created by Bastari, while above the door we find the Three Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity, and the coat of arms of the Company indicated by Pope Gregory XIII, a work by Luca Lucci from Fabriano.

The origins of the Abbey Church of S. Benedetto date back to 1244, when Silvestro Guzzolini, a nobleman from Osimo who had retired to a hermitic life a few years earlier, had a chapel built within the city to bring his now numerous community closer to the faithful of Fabriano. Renovated and enlarged in 1290, the building was reconsecrated to St. Benedict of Norcia, finally becoming a stable seat for some monks.

The adjoining monastery housed the seat of the abbot general of the Silvestrine Congregation. In the decades that followed, those works were carried out that still make S. Benedetto highly appreciated by visitors: the pillars of the nave were decorated, renowned artists painted the canvases and frescoes of the side altars, and thanks also to noble families, guilds, and religious companies, the temple was richly adorned.

The church, with a single nave opening onto ten square-plan chapels, covered by a vault animated by small sails and illuminated by tall windows, presents itself as harmonious in its decorations and hosts a considerable number of highly notable works of art attributable to artists such as Orazio Gentileschi and the cycle on Charles Borromeo, the refined Venetian painter of the 17th and 18th centuries Pasqualino Rossi, Simone De Magistris with the cycle on the life of St. Silvestro Guzzolini, Francesco Vanni, a Sienese painter of the 16th century, Domiziani, Giacinto Brandi, and Bastiani with St. Homobonus.

Interesting is the crypt from 1586 where the relics of the Blessed Giovanni Bottegoni, "of the staff," one of Silvestro's first disciples, are preserved, along with a vigorous 14th-century stone high-relief by Martino da Cingoli that depicts him.

The foundation of the Church of S. Nicolò by the Benedictines dates back to the 12th century, although no traces of the ancient building remain due to the earthquake of 1279. The church was completely rebuilt starting in 1630 based on a design by Michele Buti from Pisa. An important fresco by Allegretto Nuzi and a significant 14th-century wooden sculpture of Saint Nicholas of Bari, created by the Master of the Magi of Fabriano, remain from the medieval structure. In the Saint's chapel, there are two beautiful paintings by Gregorio Preti depicting the stories of Saint Nicholas.

The exterior of the church offers a distinctive facade with an upper loggia featuring three arches, while the interior preserves a very rich collection of Mannerist and Baroque canvases with important paintings by Filippo Bellini, Andrea Sacchi (St. John the Baptist), Giacinto Brandi (Death of St. Anne), Giovanni Barbieri, known as Guercino (St. Michael the Archangel), a masterpiece painted in 1544, and the fresco on the intervention of Saint Nicholas at the Council of Nicea by Malatesta, who also frescoed the dome.

Inaugurated in October 2018 in the rooms adjacent to the “R. Sassi” Multimedia Library, the museum exhibits the Guelfo and Marisa Bianchini collection, donated to the city of Fabriano on this occasion. The two rooms host the works of the Fabriano-born artist Guelfo (1937 - 1997), born Gaetano Ulisse Bianchini, after whom the museum is named, as well as a collection of graphic works ranging from Impressionism to the present day.

The section exhibiting Guelfo’s works retraces some of the recurring themes in his artistic production, the most representative 20th-century artists, especially Dadaists and Surrealists (Hans Arp, Salvador Dalì, Joan Mirò, Jean Cocteau, André Masson, Man Ray, etc.). A particular section also gathers various drawings, engravings, and works by Giorgio De Chirico.

It is a place of meeting, attraction, and aggregation and aims at promoting excellence. The Permanent Museum is available to the public, hosting the Ruggeri-Mannucci Collection, established in 2001 by the Cassa di Risparmio di Fabriano e Cupramontana Foundation. The Foundation, in fact, by virtue of its mission to protect and enhance the artistic heritage of the geographical area it belongs to, decided to acquire a substantial number of works by the 20th-century artists from Fabriano, Quirino Ruggeri and Edgardo Mannucci. The collection includes sculptures, paintings, graphic works, and jewelry.

Janus, Giano the two-faced god, can be counted among the marine or "aquatic" deities; according to one version of the myth, he was the first god of Rome. The stream, a tributary of the Esino, takes his name, and according to legend, the name of the city itself also comes from him: Faber-Janus. For the ancients, the god Janus had the power to make springs suddenly emerge from the ground and to guard everything within the city, without, however, losing sight of what was happening outside. This is why he had two faces, which over time came to represent wisdom and knowledge, of both the past and the future, an enigmatic god but one with a high cult in ancient Rome.

Returning to the history of our river, first called Castellano, then Giano, we must take a flash-back to the year one thousand when its waters were used as an energy source by the fulling mills located on its banks. The fulling mills (gualchiere) were true sites, buildings where paper was manufactured and produced. Craft workshops were born around the river.

Piazza Mercatale itself, now Piazza Garibaldi, was connected by small bridges to the San Nicolò district. From here, a large area destined to expand began, to welcome Fabriano's first real industrial area in the 1300s and 1400s. This was the hub of the city's major productive and economic activities: mills, furnaces, paper mills, blacksmiths' forges, tanneries, dye-works, etc.
The great industriousness along the banks of the Giano exalted the figure of the Fabrianese blacksmith who beat iron on the river: faber in amne cudit as is indicated in the city's XIII century municipal seal.

The Church of Saints Biagio and Romualdo is one of the oldest and most prestigious churches in **Fabriano**, its origins dating back to the 12th century. Founded by the Benedictine monks of the **Abbazia di San Vittore delle Chiuse**, the church has been rebuilt and expanded several times over the centuries. Initially dedicated only to Saint Biagio (San Biagio), the church was later also dedicated to Saint Romualdo (San Romualdo), after the saint's remains were transferred here in 1481, coming from the **Abbazia di Valdicastro**.

The church is inextricably linked to the figure of San Romualdo, founder of the Camaldolese order and a prominent figure in medieval monasticism. In 1748, an underground **crypt** was built to definitively house the saint's remains, a place of great devotion for the faithful.

The church's architecture, in late Baroque style, predominantly dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries. The reconstruction project was entrusted to the Camaldolese architect Giuseppe Antonio Sorattini, who designed a three-nave church with a central dome and a semicircular apse. The bell tower was completed in 1646, while the facade, sober and elegant, was finished in 1688 based on the design of the architect Francesco di Vittorio Valenti.

Among the most significant works inside are the frescoes on the choir vault, created by Giulio Lazzarelli, and the octagonal paintings by Pasqualino Rossi that adorn the side chapels. Also noteworthy are the paintings by Giovanni Loreti da Fano and Francesco Mancini, exhibited in the minor chapels and characterized by a delicate use of colors and great spiritual depth. The dome, frescoed by Malatesta in the late 17th century, has a dramatic visual impact.

One of the most important elements of the church is the **organ** created by Gaetano Callido of Venice in 1791. This instrument, of rare beauty and sound precision, has recently been restored and continues to be used for sacred music concerts. The 17th-century wooden choir, with its intricate carvings and decorations, also represents another masterpiece of Fabriano's artistic craftsmanship.

Following the devastating earthquake of 1997, the church underwent important restoration work to consolidate the structure and preserve the works of art inside.