History
Fabriano appears to have been founded in the early Middle Ages by the inhabitants of a small Roman town 5 km (3 miles) south at Attiggio (Latin Attidium).
Fabriano itself was one of the earliest places in Europe to make high-quality paper on an industrial scale, starting in the 13th century, and the town even today has a reputation for fine watermarked paper. This led to Fabriano's prosperity in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and was also one of the factors that led to the establishment of nearby Foligno in Umbria as one of the earliest printing centers in Italy in the 15th century, from 1470 onwards.

See
• The Cathedral of St. Venantius (14th century, rebuilt in 1607-1617), with the stucco decoration of the interior and the canvasses by various artist, the polygonal apse, the cloister and the St. Lawrence Chapel. Also important are the frescoes with histories of the Holy Cross by the Folignate Giovanni di Corraduccio (1415).
• Palazzo del Podestà (1255) built in white stone from Vallemontagnana and subsequently modified several times. It has a distinctive bridge structure, a memory of the stream which once flowed under it. The central arcade has frescoes from the 13th-14th centuries portraying warriors, and an enigmatic Wheel of Fortune moved by a feminine figure.
• Sturinalto Fountain (1285), designed by Jacopo di Grondolo, who was inspired by the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia.
• The Museum of Paper, displaying all the tools used for paper-making throughout the centuries.