Osimo is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ('' province''). The can ...

'' of the

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, in the province of Ancona. The municipality covers a hilly area located approximately south of the port city of

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

and the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

. , Osimo had a total population of 35,037.

History

Vetus Auximum was founded by the same Greek colonists of Ancona; later it was contested by the

Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

and the

Picentes The name Picentes or Picentini refers to the population of Picenum, on the northern Adriatic coastal plain of ancient Italy. Their endonym, if any, is not known for certain. There is linguistic evidence that the Picentini comprised two differen ...

until conquered by the Romans, who used it as a fortress for their northern

Picenum Picenum was a region of ancient Italy. The name is an exonym assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into the Roman Republic. Picenum was ''Regio V'' in the Augustan territorial organization of Roman Italy. Picenum was also ...

settlement starting from 174 BCE. The walls were made of large rectangular stones which are still visible in some locations. It was a colony until 157 BCE. The family of

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

were its protectors and resisted Julius Caesar in 49 BCE. Inscriptions and monuments in its town square attest to the importance of Osimo during imperial times. In the 6th century it was besieged twice in the course of the

Gothic War (535–554) The Gothic War between the Eastern Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian Peninsula, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica. It was one of the last ...

Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean ter ...

and

Totila Totila, original name Baduila (died 1 July 552), was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the t ...

; the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

historian

Procopius Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman ge ...

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 1399–1430, 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 The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct Sovereignty, sovereign rule of ...

, and remained so until

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

in 1861.

Main sights

Osimo retains a portion of its ancient town wall (2nd century BCE). Under the town is a large series of tunnels with esoteric bas-reliefs. The town hall contains a number of statues found on the site of the ancient forum. The new castle (1489), of which parts remain today, was built by Baccio Pontelli. Among the churches in the town are the following:Comune of Osimo
Accessed 29 November 2022. * Osimo Cathedral: (8th–12th centuries) The restored Romanesque-Gothic church 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. * Basilica of San Giuseppe da Copertino: was founded as a church dedicated to St Francis, but with the canonization in 1753 of Joseph of Cupertino, the church was rededicated and refurbished to house his relics. *

San Marco Evangelista San Marco Evangelista is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about northeast of Naples and about south of Caserta. San Marco Evangelista borders the following municipalities: Capodrise, ...

: Erected in 14th century by

Augustinian order Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–1 ...

; refurbished in later centuries, contains an altarpiece by

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The ...

. * San Niccolò: 16th-century church * Sanctuary of the Beata Vergine Addolorata: 20th century Neo-Romanesque church outside of the town center

People

Andrea Cionna Andrea Cionna (born 1968) is an Italian athlete from Osimo in the Province of Ancona. He holds the world record for the fastest marathon run by a totally blind man, set in 2:31:59 in Rome in 2007,Bonfilius :''"Saint Bonfilius" can also refer to Buonfiglio dei Monaldi, one of the founders of the Servite Order.'' Bonfilius (c. 1040 – c. 1125) was an Italian saint, monk and bishop. He was born in Osimo, close to Ancona, and entered the Benedicti ...

(1040-1115), monk, bishop and saint *

Bruno Giacconi Bruno Giacconi (20 November 1889 – 25 February 1957) was an Italian sports shooter. He competed in the 25 m pistol event at the 1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially kno ...

(1889–1957), Olympian * Clemente da Osimo (1235–1291), Italian Roman Catholic professed religious * Luigi Fagioli (1898–1952), motor racing driver * Sylvester Gozzolini, founder of the Sylvestrines and saint

Twin towns

* Copertino, Italy * Armstrong,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Cities and towns in the Marche