Paper made Fabriano. Since at least the thirteenth century, craftsmen in this inland town of the Marche have made paper, and they are credited with key innovations: the use of animal gelatine to size the sheets and, most famously, the watermark. Fabriano paper is still made here today, and the Museo della Carta e della Filigrana, in a former monastery, shows the old techniques with working demonstrations. Your banknotes may well have been printed on paper from this town.
The Teatro Gentile, the town theatre, takes its name from Gentile da Fabriano, the great painter of the International Gothic style, born here in the fourteenth century, whose Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi is one of the most sumptuous paintings of its age. The theatre is a nineteenth-century opera house with tiers of boxes, typical of the many small but elegant theatres in the towns of the Marche. The town centre around it has a fine square with a fountain, a medieval palace and an old hospital.
Fabriano sits in a valley in the Apennines, surrounded by hills and mountains, and the riding in all directions is good. To the east, the Gola della Rossa and Frasassi gorges carry the road through narrow limestone canyons, and the Grotte di Frasassi, near Genga, are among the largest show caves in Italy. To the west, roads cross the Apennine ridge into Umbria, towards Gubbio, with winding climbs and fine views. Surfaces are generally good on the main roads, rougher on the minor ones. The area was hit by earthquakes in 1997 and 2016, and some villages still show the damage.
Fabriano has fuel and all services, and its old centre has cafés and restaurants serving the hearty cuisine of the inland Marche. Salame di Fabriano, a fine-grained pork salami, is a local specialty, and truffles appear on menus in season. The mountains around offer cool air in summer, when the coast is hot and crowded. On a quiet evening, walking through the old streets, you can almost hear the sound of the paper mills that once powered the town's prosperity.