From the foundations of an ancient church of Roman origin rises the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the main place of worship in Fano. An external façade which has retained its Romanesque structure is counterbalanced by a richly adorned interior, among which the splendid Nolfi Chapel with its large baroque decorations stands out for its magnificence.
Built in the second half of the 12th century on the remains of an ancient church destroyed by fire in 1124, the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, elevated to the rank of minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1953, is still the main place of worship today of the city.
The destruction of the previous church on which the cathedral was built is attested by the presence of a plaque describing the reason for the destruction and the rebuilding of the new cathedral thanks to Bishop Rainaldo. The new structure, dating back to 1140, has an external façade that has retained its original tripartite Romanesque structure with a gabled profile. In the central part a beautiful portal is visible. The interior has three naves with their three apses, two of which, the lateral ones, were transformed into lateral chapels starting from the 14th century. In the presbytery there is the main altar which rests on the sarcophagus of San Fortunato; behind it is the 18th century wooden choir and in the background is the canvas by Sebastiano Ceccarini, which depicts Mary assumed into heaven. Of important historical and artistic value is the pulpit composed of marble slabs with reliefs in full Romanesque style, which portrays evangelical episodes of the Coming of Christ. On the sides there are six chapels, three on each side. In the left nave there are the chapels of the Crucifix, of the Pilgrim Madonna and the chapel of the Baptistery, in which Ippolito Aldobrandini, the future Pope Clement VIII, was baptized on 4 March 1536. In the right nave, you come across the chapel dedicated to Saint Paul, followed by the one where the tombs of the diocesan bishops are, and finally the more sumptuous Nolfi Chapel, frescoed with "The Stories of the Virgin" by Domenichino between 1618 and 1619, a baroque jewel of the Cathedral and the city. The two side apses and the crypt date back to the 16th century, while the bell tower was relatively more recent, rebuilt after the bombings of the Second World War. A peculiar feature of the bell tower are the five bells, once electrified by momentum and then modified to increase the stability of the bell tower itself. Located at the head of the right arm of the transept is the pipe organ built in 1909.
