Ancona

Ancona, city, central Italy, capital of Ancona Province and of the Marche Region, a seaport on the Adriatic Sea. It is a busy commercial and fishing port. Other industries include shipbuilding, petroleum and sugar refining, and the manufacture of sailcloth, paper, chemicals, machinery, and musical instruments.

Ancona was founded about 390 bc by Greek merchants from Syracuse. It was later used as a Roman naval station during the Illyrian War in 178 bc, and was captured by Julius Caesar after he crossed the Rubicon in 49 bc. The emperor Trajan later enlarged the harbour, and it became an important Roman trading port and naval base.

With the fall of Rome in ad 476, Ancona became part of the Byzantine Empire, but was overrun in about 493 by the Goths. In the 6th century it became one of the five cities of the Pentapolis, part of the Byzantine province of Ravenna, which was conquered about 752 by the Lombards. Destroyed in 848 by the Saracens, Ancona was rebuilt in 876 and came under the rule of the Holy Roman emperors. Recognized as a papal possession in the early 13th century, it became a semi-independent republic under Vatican rule. In 1532 it became part of the Papal States.

During the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Ancona was captured in 1797 by the French, recaptured (1799) for the papacy by the Austrians, captured (1801) again by the French and absorbed into the kingdom of Italy, and finally returned to the papacy. The revolts of 1831 and 1849 against papal rule were crushed by Austrian troops. In 1860 Ancona was captured by the Italian nationalist forces and became part of the new kingdom of Italy. The city was extensively damaged in World War II. Population 101,480 (2007 estimate).