Pesaro

Pesaro stands on the Italian Adriatic coast at the mouth of the Foglia. The Romans founded the colony of Pisaurum here in 184 BC, and the Via Flaminia helped make it a centre of trade and crafts. After the Gothic War it became one of the cities of the Byzantine Pentapolis.

In the Renaissance Pesaro passed through the hands of the Montefeltro, Sforza and Della Rovere families. The marriage of Costanzo Sforza and Camilla of Aragon was celebrated here in 1475. Under the Della Rovere, who made the city their principal ducal capital, Pesaro gained many new public and private palaces and a line of walls known as the Mura Roveresche. Their rule ended in 1631, when the duchy passed to the papacy.