Fermo
Fermo (ancient: Firmum Picenum) is a town and "comune" of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo. Fermo is on a hill, the Sabulo, elevation , on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway. History. The oldest human remains from the area are funerary remains from the 9th–8th centuries BC, belonging to the Villanovan culture or the proto-Etruscan civilization. The ancient Firmum Picenum was founded as a Latin colony, consisting of 6000 men, in 264 BC, after the conquest of the Picentes, as the local headquarters of the Roman power, to which it remained  faithful. It was originally governed by five quaestors. It was made a colony with full rights after the battle of Philippi, the 4th Legion being settled there. It lay at the junction of roads to Pausulae, Urbs Salvia, and Asculum, connected to the coast road by a short branch road from Castellum Firmanum (Porto S. Giorgio). According to Plutarch's "Parallel Lives", Cato the Elder thought highly of Firman soldiers for their faith and readiness. With the Pentapolis, in the 8th century it passed under the authority of the Holy See was thenceforth subject to the vicissitudes of the March  of Ancona. In the 10th century it became the capital of the Marchia Firmana. Under the predecessors of Honorius III (1216–27) the bishops of city became prince-bishops, first with the secular rights of counts, and later as princes of Fermo. In 1199 it became a free city, and remained independent until 1550, when it was annexed to the Papal States. In the contest between the Hohenstaufen and the papacy, Fermo was besieged and captured several times; in 1176 by Archbishop Christian of Mainz, in 1192 by Emperor Henry Vl, in 1208 by Marcuald, Duke of Ravenna, in 1241 by  Emperor Frederick II, and in 1245 by Manfred of Sicily. After this it was governed by different lords, who ruled as more or less legitimate vassals of the Holy See, e.g. the Monteverdi, Giovanni Visconti and Francesco Sforza (banished 1446), Oliverotto Euffreducci (murdered in 1503 by Cesare Borgia), who was succeeded by his son Ludovico, killed at the battle of Montegiorgio in 1520, when Fermo became again directly subjected to the Holy See. Fermo has been the capital city of the new province of Fermo since 2009. Geography. The municipality borders with Altidona, Belmonte Piceno, Francavilla d'Ete, Grottazzolina, Lapedona, Magliano  di Tenna, Massa Fermana, Mogliano (MC), Monte Urano, Montegiorgio, Monterubbiano, Ponzano di Fermo, Porto San Giorgio, Porto Sant'Elpidio, Rapagnano, Sant'Elpidio a Mare and Torre San Patrizio. Frazioni. It counts the hamlets ("frazioni") of Camera, Campiglione, Cantagallo, Casabianca, Capodarco, Cartiera di Tenna, Concerie, Contrada Boara, Ete Palazzina, Faleriense, Gabbiano, Girola, Lido di Fermo, Madonnetta d'Ete, Marina Palmense, Moie, Molini Tenna, Montesecco, Montone, Parete, Pompeiana, Ponte Ete Vivo, Sacri Cuori, Salette, Salvano, San Biagio, San Girolamo, San Lorenzo, San Marco, San Michele, Lido San Tommaso, Torre di Palme and Villa San Claudio. Panoramic points. From the Girfalco or Girone, the highest point  of the hill, there is a wide 180° view towards the coast, to the north towards Macerata and to the south towards Monterubbiano. In particular conditions of visibility it is possible to see the reliefs of Croatia. Other extraordinary views can be enjoyed from Torre di Palme, a hamlet of Fermo, south of the city and overlooking the sea. Underground. In the subsoil of Fermo there is a vast network of tunnels, wells and cisterns, some of which date back to Roman and medieval times, with the function of protecting the soil by draining and capturing water. Archaeological sites . In the outskirts of Fermo three large necropolis have been identified and partially excavated: in contrada Mossa towards the east, in contrada Misericordia and Solfonara towards the west. The most significant period of reference of these necropolis is the proto-Villanovan one (from IX to VII century B.C.). The areas have been covered, and the findings are largely exposed to the National Archaeological Museum of Ancona and partly in the archaeological section "From Villanovan to Picenes", on deposit at the Palazzo dei Priori. Natural areas. Forest of Cugnolo, near Torre di Palme: located in the homonymous district is a rare  example of intact Mediterranean maquis of the Adriatic coast. It extends for about and it is one of the Protected Floristic Areas of the Marche Region. It can be visited through an equipped path with a ring route that also touches the Grotta degli Amanti and eighteenth-century villas.