Historical notes on the area

Since prehistoric times the presence of waterways, natural lines of communication and preferential hunting and fishing areas, has drawn man to this area and favoured the establishment of colonies and urban settlements. The territory of Cantiano is marked by a thick network of waterways and the proximity of the Scheggia pass for communications of Umbria. The oldest traces of man date to the Palaeolithic period. However, it was in the Pre-Roman period that the area became a meeting point for the Umbrian and Picene civilisations. In 295 B.C. the Romans won the battle of Sentinum and in 284 B.C. founded Sena Gallica, today Senigallia, consolidating their empire under the Lex Flaminia (232 B.C.) which assigned lots of land in the newly conquered territory to single individuals. The area in and around Cantiano was also involved in the renewal of the area with the arrival of share-croppers sent to the scattered farms. The opening of the Flaminian Way (220 B.C.) on ancient, pre-existing tracks, with the accompanying reclamation, consolidation and paving of the roadway, completed possession and control of the entire area with the consequent movement of goods and people, revitalising the urban settlements that had formed along the Flaminian. The Flaminian – the road between the seas - took on strategic importance in the military control of the territories with the invasion and conquests of the Longobards it became vital. The obligatory detour to Gubbio, the so-called "Byzantine Corridor", made it the only road between Rome and the Exarchate of Ravenna.

During this difficult period, around the early Middle Ages, the presence of the Flaminian Way continued to condition the life of this territory. In the VI century A.C., the castrum of Luceolis was founded, which probably was the foundation for today's Cantiano.

The first mention of castrum Cantiani dates back to 1220. Built closely around the two hills, Cantiano and Colmatrano, the castrum constituted an impregnable fortress.