Focara

Description

Focara is recalled by Dante in a passage of the Inferno (XXVIII, 89) in which the poet, speaking of the navigator, writes «poi farà sì, ch'al vento di Focara». According to the annotations to the canto, the passage alludes to the extremely strong wind that blows between Cattolica and Pesaro, rendered proverbial to the point that the expression «Deus custodiat te a vento Focariensi» was widespread. Because of this wind, Buti recounts, sailors were accustomed to make vows and prayers to the saints when passing in front of Focara. The notoriety of this wind, crucial for the navigation of the time, explains the ironic dantean allusion, understandable at least to the readers of central Italy at that time.