Pesaro (Italy)

Pesaro is an Adriatic Sea port and city in Italy's Marche region, as well as the capital of Pesaro e Urbino Province. By population (around 95,000) the city is ranked Marche's second-largest - following Ancona. Pesaro is famous for being the birthplace of Gioachino Antonio Rossini (1792-1868, Italian composer).

Port Pesaro (locode ITPES) has two main piers (total quay length 1500 m / 4920 ft), two berths/docks (with capacity to accommodate smaller-sized vessels with max draft 5 m / 16 ft) as well as a ship repair facility (at Darsena Nuaova/Pesaro Marina) that serves mainly fishing vessels and yachts.

Pesaro is homeport to its fishing fleet and also serves passenger ferries linking to Italy's Cesenatico (departures from Pesaro on Tuesdays and Fridays), mainland Croatia/Zadar (Tuesdays-Fridays) and Croatia's islands Mali Losinj (Mondays-Thursdays-Saturdays), Pag/Novalja (Saturdays), and Rab (all week except Saturdays). Pesaro-Croatia ferry routes are served during summer (June-July-August) by fast ferryboats/hydrofoils, with crossing time ~2 hours.

Pesaro is also included in the Adriatic itineraries of small-ship cruise companies as a tender port. Due to the low water depth, larger cruise vessels remain at anchorage off the coast and their passengers are transported/ferried ashore via the ship's tender boats. Among the brands visiting Pesaro is Grand Circle Cruise Line as well as Pesaro's regular cruise line operated with Nautilus (IMO 9017575, 1992-built passenger ship homeported/registered in Messina Sicily).

In 2020, into Pesaro was merged the neighboring Monteciccardo (population around 2,000). The current-day city's economy is largely based on commercial fishing, furniture making and tourism.

The city's most visited tourist attractions include Palazzo Ducale di Pesaro (15th-century Ducal Palace), Rocca Costanza (15th-century castle with four corner towers and a dry moat), Villa Imperiale (16th-century palatial house with gardens on San Bartolo hill/now a private residence), Mura Roveresche (17th-century city walls ruins/demolished in the 20th century, of the original walls only a short section and two gates remain - Porta del Ponte and Porta Rimini), Gioachino Rossini's house/museum (on 34 Via Rossini), Conservatorio Statale di Musica Gioachino Rossini (19th-century founded music school on Piazza Oliveri), Musei Civici di Palazzo Mosca (the city's principal museum housed in a 16th-century palace), Museo Oliveriano (archaeology museum housed in the 17th-century palace Palazzo Almerici) and Biblioteca Oliveriana (18th-century Library founded by Annibale degli Abati Olivieri/1708-89, Italian aristocrat and archeologist), as well as Duomo di Pesaro (aka Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta/14th century cathedral) and several other churches. The city has ~7 km / 4,5 mi) of equipped beaches.

Pesaro's Vitrifrigo Arena (aka BPA Palas, and Adriatic Arena, 1996-opened, capacity 10323 seats) is Italy's 3rd-biggest indoor sports arena -following only Milano's Mediolanum Forum (12700 seats) and Rome's PalaLottomatica (11200 seats). The city is also popular among domestic tourists for its annual film festival (Mostra Internazionale del Nuovo Cinema/held since 1965) and Rossini Opera Festival (held since 1980).

The settlement (as Pisaurum) was established as part of the Roman Picentes colony. Pisaurum developed as an important trading hub on Via Flaminia/Flaminian Way - a Roman road connecting Rome with Ariminum/Rimini (Adriatic Sea) over the Apennines. In the middle ages, the town (and the duchy) was ruled successively by the Italian noble families Montefeltro (1285-1445), Sforza (1445-1512) and Della Rovere (1513-1631). During the Della Rovere House's era, Pesaro became the duchy's capital and enjoyed a construction boom in public buildings, private palaces, as well as a new wall line (Mura Roveresche).