Tolentino

Tolentino, town (1991 pop. 18,346), in the Marche, central Italy, on the Chienti River. In 1797, Pope Pius VI signed at Tolentino a humiliating treaty with Napoleon Bonaparte, under which the pope gave up considerable territory and numerous works of art. Murat was defeated by the Austrians near the city in 1815 and lost the throne of Naples.

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Tolentino

Tolentino is a town and commune of about 19,000 inhabitants, in the province of Macerata in the Marche region of central Italy.

The city of Tolentino sits on a natural terrace (altitude 256 m) in the middle of the valley of the Chienti.

History

Signs of the first inhabitants of this favorable and fertile coastal zone, between the mountains and the Adriatic, date to the lower Paleolithic.

Numerous tombs, from the 8th to the 4th centuries BCE, attest to the presence of the Piceni culture at the site of today's city, Roman Tolentinum, linked to Rome by the via Flaminia. Tolentinum was the seat of the diocese of Tolentino from the late 6th century, under the patronage of the local Saint Catervo. The urban commune is attested from 1099, assuming its mature communal form between 1170 and 1190, settling its boundaries through friction with neighboring communes like S. Severino and Camerino. From the end of the 14th century, the commune passed into the hands of the da Varano family and then the Sforza, before becoming part of the Papal States until the arrival of Napoleon.

In the city, on February 19 1797, was signed the Treaty of Tolentino between Napoleon and Pope Pius VI which imposed territorial and economic strictures on the Papacy.

In 1815, at the battle of Tolentino, Joachim Murat was finally defeated by Frederick Bianchi at the head of Austrian forces, to return to Naples and abdication. Tolentino returned to papal control until Italian unification in 1861.

In the late 19th century industrial development decisively linked Tolentino economically to the rest of Italy.

Main sights

Notable people

The most famous Tolentinati are the saint Nicholas of Tolentino (c. 1246—1305) and the humanist Francesco Filelfo (1398 - 1481). Other notable people:

Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino (1350 c.-1435), mercenary
Nicola Vaccaj (1790-1848), musician
Mario Mattoli (1898-1980), film director

Transportation

Tolentino is about 60 km from the western Flaminia insertion to Rome and 40 km from the Adriatic sea and A14 highway to the east: the SS77 highway connects the town to both these state routes. There are bus lines from here to the nearby minor towns and villages and a railway leading from Civitanova to Fabriano. The nearest major airport is Falconara (Ancona), about 100 km from Tolentino but linked by highway, and there is a tiny airstrip for ultralight aviation in the town's immediate surroundings.