PE'SARO-E-URBPNO, a legation or province of the States of the Church, is bounded E. by the province of Ancona, N. by the Adriatic, W. by the province of Forli and Tuscany, and S. by the province of Perugia. The area is 1353 square miles : the population in 1850 wag 241,612. The central ridge of the Apennines, which divides the pro vince of Pesaro-e-Urbino from Tuscany, projects eastward towards the Adriatic in the neighbourhood of Urbino, and sends off several offsets, which run to the sea-coast, forming the natural boundary between Northern and Southern Italy. The mountain on which San Marino stands forms part of one of these offsets. [San Manino.] Several streams run in a north-east direction from the Apenuines to the sea. The Cooca runs between the provinces of Forli and I'esaro, and enters the sea near La Cattolica. The Foglia (ancient Pisaurus) rises in the Apennines of Carpegua, on the Tuscan border, and enters the sea at the town of Pesaro. Farther south is the /denture, the largest river in the province, which rises on the east aide of the Apennines that bound the valley of the upper Tiber. It runs first due east, theu north-east past Fossombrone, and enters the sea near Fame, after a course of 60 miles. The principal feeder of the Metauro is the Cantiano, which comes from the mountains of Gubbio, and joins it on the right bank between Fossombrone aud Furlo. According to a tradition among the country-people, the spot at which Ilasdrubal was defeated and killed is a plain above the confluence of the Cantiano. A tower on a hill, on the right bank of the Metauro, is called the Sepulchre of Hasdrubal. The Flaminian road from Fano crosses the Metauro above Fossombrone, and follows the course of the Cantiauo, ascending the Apenuines above the source of the latter river, and afterwards descending by Gualdo to Nocera. The Usaue rises iu the mountains of Avelhum, passes Pergola, and enters the sea north-west of Sinigaglia. The Miss cutera the sea at Sinigaglia.
The surface of the province is hilly ; some parts of it are very fertile, but the mountains are generally barren. The lower hills are planted with vines and olive- and mulberry-trees. Good pasture is also abundant. Coal is found near Peaaro.
Towns.—UnnINo. Pesaro, the ancient Pisaurust, a well-built town and a bishop's see, built upou a rocky aud wooded hill above the mouth of (he Foglia, has several fine churches with some good paintings; several palaces, one of which is the residence of the legate; a public library of 15,000 volumes, with a museum and a cabinet of models. Pesaro has a small harbour, several mauufnctorios of silks, pottery and glass, aud leather, and about 17,000 inhabitants. It is surrounded by a bastioned wall. In the 16th century it was the residence of the dukes della Revere, great patrons of literature and the arts. The surrounding territory, which produces excellent figs, is covered with pleasant country-houses. Pesaro has a civil and criminal court, a commercial tribunal, a college, and a clerical semi nary. It. is the birthplace of Rossini. Fano, the ancient Fanuna Fortuna, is a sea-port town at the mouth of the Metauro, with about 10,000 iuhabitanta. It has a triumphal arch dedicated to Augustus,
several churches with paintings by Guido aud Guercino, a handsome theatre, some silk manufactories, and a public library. The town is surrounded by walls. The harbour is uearly useless, from the accu mulation of sand ; only vessels of very light draught enter it. Sinigaglia, the ancient Sena Gallica, is a bustling town with a small harbour, several churches and convents, and about 8000 inhabitants. It is chiefly remarkable on account of its great fair, which is held in the month of July, and is frequented by trades-people from all parts of Italy, and also from other countries, for the sale and purchase of colonial produce, and of British, Freuch, and German manufactures. All articles enter the fair free, but pay duty ou passing the gates into the country. The fair of Sinigag,lia has been held since 1200, and was made free by Pope Paul II. in 1464. Foasembrone, situated on a hill about a mile and a half from the ruins of Forum Sempronii, which are lower down the banks of the Metauro, is a bishop's see, has several churches and conveuts, a bridge over the Metauro, and about 6500 inhabitants. The silk manufactured by steam machinery at Fossombrone is considered the beet in Italy. The town is also famous for its woollen mauufsetures. The Flaminiau Way from Fano to Foligno through Fossombrone traverses an extremely beautiful country on the left bank of the 3letauro. Crossing the Metauro, it then runs up the left bank of the Cantiano, traversing the scene of the great battle in which Hasdrubal was slain, s.c. 207. At the Pass of Furlo the road is carried for above half a mile ou shelves and through a tunnel, cut in the rocky precipices that overhang the Cantiano. Cabbie, the ancient /gurium, a city of the Umbri, is situated on the southern slope of the Apennines, near the source of the Chiascio, an affluent of the Tiber. It has severe] churches and other buildings worthy of notice, and about 5000 inhabitants. Old Iguvium was in a lower situation than the present town; the amphitheatre is still in toler able preservation. There is also an ancient tomb, with other remains of antiquity. Traces of the temple of Jupiter Apenniva, an old deity of the Umbri, are visible a few miles from Gubbio. In this neigh bourhood also were found, about the middle of the 15th century, the seven bronze tablets written partly in Etruscan and partly in Latin characters, and known by the name of the Eugubine Tables, which are now in the museum of Gubbio. Cog/e, the ancient Canes, a Roman colony, on the Flaminian road, has about 10,000 inhabitants, some remains of antiquity, and an important trade in leather and dressed skins. Urbania, • modern town, which derives its name from Pope Urban VIII., is situated on the banks of the Metauro; has a collegiate church, a manufactory of majolica, or delft ware, and about 4400 inhabitants. Pergola, on the C&ano, has 5600 inhabitants, and extensive carpet-factories.