Signs of the first inhabitants of this favorable and fertile coastal zone, between the mountains and the Adriatic, date to the Lower Paleolithic. Numerous tombs, from the 8th to the 4th centuries BCE, attest to the presence of the culture of the Piceni at the site of today's city, Roman Tolentinum, linked to Rome by the via Flaminia. Tolentinum was the seat of the diocese of Tolentino from the late 6th century, under the patronage of the localSaint Catervo. The urban commune is attested from 1099, assuming its mature communal form between 1170 and 1190, settling its boundaries through friction with neighboring communes like S. Severino and Camerino. From the end of the 14th century, the commune passed into the hands of the da Varano family and then the Sforza, before becoming part of the Papal States until the arrival of Napoleon. The Treaty of Tolentino between Bonaparte and Pope Pius VI was signed in the city on 19 February 1797: this imposed territorial and economic strictures on the Papacy. In 1815, at the battle of Tolentino, Joachim Murat was decisively defeated by Frederick Bianchi at the head of Austrian forces, resulting in his abdication. Tolentino returned to papal control until Italian unification in 1861. In the late 19th centuryindustrial development decisively linked Tolentino economically to the rest of Italy.
Tolentino counts the hamlets (frazioni of Abbadia di Fiastra, Acquasalata, Ancaiano, Asinina, Bura, Calcavenaccio, Casa di Cristo, Casone, Cisterna, Collina, Colmaggiore, Divina Pastora, Fontajello, Fontebigoncio, Grazie, Maestà, Massaccio, Pace, Parruccia, Paterno, Pianarucci, Pianciano, Pianibianchi, Portanova, Rambona, Rancia, Regnano, Ributino, Riolante, Rofanello, Rosciano, Rotondo, Sant'Andrea, Sant'Angelo, San Bartolomeo, Santa Croce, San Diego, San Giovanni, San Giuseppe, Santa Lucia, San Martino, San Rocco, Salcito, Santissimo Redentore, Troiano, Vaglie and Vicigliano.
Economy
Tolentino is home to ARENA, the swimwear brand, and Poltrona Frau, the noted designer of leather furniture and automotive interiors — as well as the Poltrona Frau Museum, designed by Italian architectMichele De Lucchi, to display furniture products.
Tolentino is about from the western Flaminia insertion to Rome and from the Adriatic sea and A14 highway to the east: the SS77 highway connects the town to both these state routes. There are bus lines from here to the nearby minor towns and villages and a railway leading from Civitanova to Fabriano. The nearest major airport is Falconara, about from Tolentino but linked by highway, and there is a tiny airstrip for ultralight aviation in the town's immediate surroundings.
