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Cantiano (Pesaro province)

A town of the northern Marche: 43°28.5N 12°37.5E. Altitude: 360 m Population (2003): 2550

[image ALT: The rooftops of a small town, with in the foreground some two-story houses with Mediterranean-style tiled roofs, and in the background peeping up above them the upper part of a church and its belfry on the right and a cluster of houses on a hill to the left. It is a view of Cantiano, in the Marche (central Italy).]

An oddly accurate impression of Cantiano, seen from the south over its rooftops.

Cantiano is a small town on the Via Flaminia between Scheggia (12 km S, in Umbria) and Cagli (10 km N). It is the successor to the nearby Roman town of Luceolis, now vanished, which was slightly S, in the area of the modern Pontericcioli: note the similarity of names — the first half, Ponte, meaning bridge. Sure enough there are 4 Roman bridges in that frazione; and one more at Pontedazzo.

More than just remains of Antiquity, though, even if very well-preserved remains, I found a very pleasant livable place with the best of both worlds: fresh air and natural wooded beauty, yet with an urban feel to it, to say nothing of several good restaurants. Cantiano also boasts at least three good mediaeval churches — the collegiate church of S. Giovanni Battista that dominates the town, some of whose towers you see on this page, peeping up over the roofs; the Romanesque-façaded S. Agostino; and the towered S. Nicolò in the main square — although typically, I liked best the plain little chapel of S. Ubaldo perched on its hill in that clump of houses you see on the left.

A proper website will eventually appear here: I've been to Cantiano and walked both the modern and the ancient Flaminia in the area. For now though, you will find it useful to read my diary entries for Jul. 27 and Aug. 7‑9, 2000, which include several photos, including the Collegiata and four of the Roman bridges; for further, more complete information, see the sites linked in the navigation bar at the foot of the page.

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