Ascoli Piceno (Ašculë in Ascoli dialect) is an Italian town of 47
129 inhabitants, capital of the province of the same name in the
Marche region.
The historic center is built almost entirely
in travertine, in it there is the Renaissance Piazza del Popolo. It
preserves several noble and bell towers and for this reason it is
called the City of a hundred towers. It is the only city in the
region to have two historic theaters, the Ventidio Basso and the
Filarmonici.
The city is also known for the Ascoli olive, a
gastronomic specialty born in Ascoli Piceno and widespread
throughout the Italian territory and beyond national borders.
«Ascoli Piceno is one of the most beautiful small towns in Italy,
and I see nothing else that resembles it. André Gide preferred it
... as beautiful as some cities in Southern France, not so much for
this or that monument, but for its complex, the anthological
quality, the charm that comes from nothing and everything. You must
have walked there, starting with the Piazza del Popolo, the Italian
square which together with that of San Marco in Venice gives more
than the impression of a hall, surrounded by arcades, closed by the
stupendous apse of San Francesco; or along the Baptistery of the
Duomo; or along the steep banks of the Tronto; and in the narrow
streets, called the rue, where the palaces are countless; and that
widen into small squares ... Ascoli is a city of towers ... There
are many styles, the Romanesque, the Gothic, the Renaissance, the
Baroque ... with stone-walled churches, without windows; a
travertine of a warm, uniform gray, without plaster ... all
decorated, worked, historiated ... and on every door and window, you
see fruit, foliage, female caryatids, flowers, animals, stars, or
even simply proverbs and carved sentences. "
(Guido Piovene,
Journey to Italy, 1957)
“There is no other place in all of
Italy where it is possible to perceive the square as a social and,
at the same time, architectural place like the Piazza del Popolo in
Ascoli Piceno. This is - as they say - the heart of the city ... If
it's good weather, take advantage of the bars with outdoor tables to
enjoy the cool wind of the sunset, when the square ends in shadow,
but the light still illuminates the buildings Renaissance, with the
typical porch below, indeed makes them stand out as never happens in
broad daylight. When it is cold, from the windows of the bar to
capture the rectangular ensemble of the square, the people hurrying
and a part of the natural horizon beyond the hill on which Ascoli
was built. Enjoy the squares of Ascoli, they are the essence of the
provincial city, but also something more, they are our ancestral
substratum of civil coexistence, physical and cultural element of
the urban landscape, space and time together, cornerstones of the
general relativity of Italy . "
(Mario Tozzi, Journey to
Italy - 100 + 9 emotions to try at least once, before the world
ends)
Ascoli Piceno is one of the monumental cities of Italy: its
historic center occupies a considerable extension of just over 150
hectares (1.5 km²), and is built in travertine, a calcareous
sedimentary rock extracted from the quarries in the immediate
vicinity, which it constitutes the unifying element of buildings
built over a period of about 2500 years.
It has two main
hubs: the first is the Renaissance Piazza del Popolo where some of
the most important buildings are located, including the Palazzo dei
Capitani del Popolo, the historic Caffè Meletti and the church of
San Francesco.
The second is represented by the urban space
of Piazza Arringo, the oldest and largest square in Ascoli, where
the medieval baptistery of San Giovanni rises, the cathedral of
Sant'Emidio, which contains within it the crypt also dedicated to
the saint patron. There are also the Episcopal palace, the Arengo
palace, seat of the civic art gallery and some municipal offices.
Another square of considerable architectural value is Piazza
Ventidio Basso, an irregular space surrounded by buildings such as
the church of Santi Vincenzo and Anastasio, with the characteristic
facade divided into squares, the church of San Pietro Martire,
remodeled period buildings and some examples of towers kindnesses,
both intact and curtailed or incorporated into the buildings. From
this square, every year, the historical procession of the Quintana
knightly tournament starts, after the participants of all the
districts have gathered there.
Not only the squares, but also
the streets and alleys of a purely medieval imprint contribute to
characterize the historic center such as via Pretoriana, via di
Solestà, via delle Stelle, via Soderini, via del Trivio, antico
cardo and corso Mazzini, decumanus maximus, which crosses the city
center from west to east.
Among the monuments are to be
remembered: the Roman bridge of Solestà, one of the few in Italy,
which can also be visited inside, the Malatesta fort, the Pia
fortress, the ruins of the Roman theater, the Annunziata caves, a
cyclopean construction of the Roman period similar to the one
present in Monte Rinaldo, the Lombard palace with the tower of the
Ercolani, one of the surviving towers among the approximately two
hundred that appear in the medieval chronicles, for which Ascoli has
the nickname of City of a hundred towers.
The temples
dedicated to the patron saint such as Sant'Emidio alle Grotte and
Sant'Emidio Rosso, the churches of Sant'Angelo Magno, Sant'Agostino
and San Giacomo Apostolo and the historic Ventidio Basso and
Filarmonici theaters are also worth mentioning.
Near the city
is the fortress of Castel Trosino, an ancient Lombard settlement
overlooking the Castellano stream, where at the end of the 19th
century one of the richest necropolises in Italy was found, whose
precious finds are now scattered in various museums in Worldwide.
Traveling from Ascoli la Salaria towards Rome, one encounters
the monumental Piccioni tree mentioned for the first time in a
document of 1109 and linked, between history and legend, to city
life and the vicissitudes of anti-unification brigandage.
Religious architectures
Churches
Baptistery of San Giovanni -
Simple and austere in its form of sacred Romanesque architecture, it
is built entirely of travertine and counted among the Italian
national monuments. Remodeled in its present form in the mid-twelfth
century, it has a square-shaped external base consisting mostly of
square blocks from the Roman era. The interior has in the center the
circular basin, from the 5th century, for immersion baptism, also
made of recovered Roman blocks, and a Gothic baptismal font set on a
twisted column.
Cathedral of Sant'Emidio - Cathedral of the city,
dedicated to the patron saint, stands on the site of a Roman public
building, perhaps the Basilica del Foro, and is the result of many
construction events that essentially range from the 11th to the 16th
century. The main façade created by Cola dell'Amatrice opens onto
Piazza Arringo, while the two side façades date back to the end of
the 15th century. The interior, with three naves divided by
polygonal pillars, from the end of the 15th century, houses, among
the various works, in the central apse a late Gothic wooden choir
from the first half of the 15th century, a wooden pulpit from about
1660; in the Chapel of the Sacrament the Polyptych of Sant'Emidio by
Carlo Crivelli, the imposing decorative cycle by Cesare Mariani, and
the crypt of Sant'Emidio, built in the mid-11th century which
houses, in a 4th century sarcophagus, the relics of the patron saint
of the city.
Church of the Guardian Angel - Begun to build in 1646 by the
Scalzi Augustinians, it is considered one of the most significant
Baroque monuments in the city of Ascoli.
Church of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary - Built in the 1950s, it was established as a parish
by Bishop Marcello Morgante in 1955. Inside it houses a precious
wooden crucifix, from 1636, carved by the Franciscan Innocenzo da
Petralia.
Church of the Immaculate Conception - Built between
1781 and 1795 at the behest of Mons. Francesco Antonio Marcucci. The
double-order façade was made of travertine, while its interior has
an octagonal plan ending in a dome.
Church of the Madonna del
Ponte - Characteristic for its cylindrical shape and very modest
size, it is considered one of the smallest churches in the city.
Built in 1689, it testifies to the ancient custom of building votive
shrines near the passages and entrances to the cities.
Church of
Sant'Agostino - Built in Romanesque style in the first half of the
13th century, it initially had a single nave. Remodeled starting in
1317, it was rotated during the 15th century, when it was also
enlarged to three naves. The façade on the square is characterized
by three circular windows and a portal from 1547.
Church of
Sant'Angelo Magno - Located in the ancient district of Piazzarola,
it stands out for its historical stratification ranging from the
Romanesque style through the medieval and the Baroque.
Church of
the Santissima Annunziata - Once of great importance for the
citizens of Ascoli, it is part of a vast complex built in medieval
times on the remains of ancient Roman buildings and born with the
function of a hospital (now a university seat); it stands on the
Colle dell'Annunziata, from which you can see the beautiful panorama
of the whole city.
Church of San Cristoforo - It was rebuilt on
another pre-existing church in 1593-98 by the Confraternity Orazione
e Morte, which still manages it, and was completed in 1790. Inside
there are three baroque altars by Giuseppe Giosafatti and paintings
by Ludovico Trasi and Nicola Monti. On the counter façade, the
oldest existing organ built by Gaetano Callido (1763).
Church of
the Holy Crucifix of the Icon - The church has undergone numerous
transformations over the centuries up to 1780. It has a Baroque
portal with a staircase with three flights, while its interior is a
Latin cross with chapels placed laterally.
Church of San
Francesco - This church is considered one of the best Italian works
of Franciscan architecture, as well as the most representative
Franciscan religious building in the Marche region. It was begun
with the adjoining convent in 1258, consecrated in 1371 and
completed with the dome in the 16th century. On the main façade, in
Via del Trivio, there are three Gothic portals, while the right side
acts as a scenic backdrop to the Piazza del Popolo and is
characterized by the dynamic fifteenth-century apses, the
fourteenth-century side portal surmounted by the monument to Julius
II of 1510 and ends with an apsidal group of rare architectural
model.
Church of San Giacomo Apostolo - Romanesque church built
after 1250, stands in the center of a square surrounded by historic
buildings in travertine, has two Romanesque - Gothic portals
slightly splayed and, on the main facade, a late thirteenth-century
rose window. The left side portal presents in the lunette a
polychrome sculptural group depicting the Virgin between Saints
James and John, while the main one there is a fresco of 1633 by
Sebastiano Ghezzi depicting the Madonna and Child between Saints
Giacomo and Emidio.
Church of San Giuliano - Built at the
beginning of the year 1000, it was raised in travertine blocks
following the canons of the Romanesque style. Andreantonelli
remembers it as the 9th Ascoli parish.
Church of San Gregorio
Magno - Probably built in the 8th century by completely reusing a
pagan Roman temple, built between the late Republican Age, 1st
century BC, and the early Augustan Age, 1st century AD, it saw the
addition of the facade and the bell tower during the thirteenth
century.
Church of Santa Maria del Buon Consiglio - Designed by
the Ascoli architect and sculptures Lazzaro Giosafatti, it is a
significant example of late Baroque style.
Church of Santa Maria
della Carità - The church, commonly called della Scopa, dates back
to the fourteenth century but was modified from 1532 to 1583 by Cola
dell'Amatrice and Conte Conti, according to a classicist style that
dominates the facade and the architectural structure of the interior
.
Church of Santa Maria del Carmine - In Baroque style, built
between 1651 and 1663 with an adjoining convent of the Carmelite
Fathers, it has a facade designed by the architect Carlo Rainaldi
and built by Giuseppe Giosafatti.
Church of Santa Maria delle Donne - Built at the beginning of the
13th century outside the city walls beyond the Roman gate, in the
plain of San Panfilo, and built attached to the disappeared female
cloistered monastery.
Church of Santa Maria Intervineas - The
church, in late Romanesque and Gothic style, built on a place of
worship dating back to the fifth century, was remodeled during the
thirteenth century but underwent changes in the following centuries,
until the reconstruction of the two aisles at the mid 20th century.
Isolated from the body of the building is the bell tower, originally
used as a defense tower.
Church of Sant'Onofrio - It rises near
the monumental Ventidio Basso square with the adjoining convent of
the Benedictine Sisters. It has a facade with a portal and a
rectangular window above.
Church of San Pietro martire - It was
built for the Dominican friars in 1250, in Gothic style, on the
occasion of the passage in the city of Pietro da Verona. Consecrated
to San Pietro Martire, it has a sloping main façade on Via delle
Torri, decorated with a portal by Giuseppe Giosafatti, while on the
left side, which closes one side of Piazza Ventidio Basso, marked by
Gothic pilasters and windows, opens the portal built in 1523 by Cola
dell'Amatrice.
Church of Saints Peter and Paul - Built in 1206 in
the Campo Parignano district, together with the annexed former
Convent, it has a compact parallelepiped-like shape with perfect
Romanesque architecture characterized by few decorative elements.
Church of San Tommaso Apostolo - Romanesque church built around
1064, together with the Collegiate Church of the Lateran Canons of
the Order of Sant'Agostino, on the initiative of Bishop Bernardo II.
It rises to the side of the homonymous square which houses the
remains of the Roman amphitheater.
Church of San Venanzio - Built
on the ruins of a pagan temple, it was rebuilt around the XII-XIII
century following the Romanesque style that was then spreading in
Ascoli. In the years 1667 - 1671 the interior was reworked in
Baroque style, by order of the Jesuits.
Church of Santi Vincenzo
e Anastasio - Romanesque church built in the 9th century. Its
present appearance is the result of works, restorations and
architectural elaborations developed and added during the course of
at least six hundred years and concluded in the year 1389. The
facade, incomplete, is characterized by 64 originally decorated
panels and the central portal of Gothic style, with inside the
lunette the sculptural group with the Madonna between Saints
Vincenzo and Anastasio.
Church of San Vittore - It follows the
canons of the Romanesque style. Its right side, originally decorated
with frescoes, was bordered by an ancient road which reached the
Malatesta Fort and the Cecco Bridge.
Church of San Serafino da
Montegranaro - Known as the Capuchin church, because it was
entrusted to the Capuchin Friars Minor in 1569, it is dedicated to
San Serafino da Montegranaro. It preserves a remarkable pictorial
cycle made several times by Augusto Mussini between 1903 and 1915,
dedicated to the life of San Serafino.
Crypt of Sant'Emidio - It
was built inside the Cathedral by Bishop Bernardo II around the
middle of the 11th century in the area corresponding in large part
to the Civil Basilica of the Forum, to house the remains of the
patron of Ascoli and his disciples, here transported from the
catacombs of Campo Parignano. Divided into aisles by 63 Roman bare
columns, it presents funeral memories of the Baroque period on the
walls. The tomb of Sant'Emidio is located in the central area of
the crypt, remodeled by Giuseppe Giosafatti at the beginning of
the 18th century, inside a Roman sarcophagus, from the age of Marcus
Aurelius, and is surmounted by the sculpture depicting the Baptism
of Polisia by Lazzaro Giosafatti.
Tempietto di Sant'Emidio Rosso
- The small octagonal religious building, erected in 1633, stands on
the place where, according to tradition, Sant'Emidio was beheaded on
5 August 303 and is to be considered as an extension of the votive
capital wanted by the first Ascoli Christians. For centuries it has
kept the "Cona de Santo Migno": stone used for the beheading of the
saint, still today, preserved in the small temple below the altar.
Tempietto di Sant'Emidio alle Grotte - This temple is one of the
most important monuments of the city and well represents the Baroque
art of the Marche. Designed by Giuseppe Giosafatti and inspired by
the style of Pietro da Cortona and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, it was
erected as an ex voto in honor of the patron saint of Ascoli for
having preserved the city from the damage of the 1703 earthquake.
Desecrated churches
Church of San Pietro in Castello - Built in Romanesque style, it
stands on a small cliff facing the Roman bridge of Solestà and is
considered by Giambattista Carducci to be the "ancient sacred
monument of Ascoli". The current religious building was rebuilt on
the space of the two previous churches: the first from the 8th
century, commissioned by the Lombard bishop Auclere, and the second
built in 1142.
Church of San Salvatore di Sotto - Romanesque
style building, dedicated to God the Savior and Prince of Peace, it
is assumed that it was built on the site of a pagan Roman temple
dedicated to Mars. It rises not far from the Cecco bridge, on the
top of a hill that the Ascoli tradition identifies with the name of
Colle di Marte, on the slopes of Colle San Marco.
Church of Santa
Maria del Lago - Polygonal church commissioned by fra Cola da Tursi,
a hermit who lived in the city in the 16th century, which stands
unified within the complex of the Malatesta fortress.
Church of
Sant'Ilario - Erected in front of the small temple of Sant'Emidio
alle Grotte before the year 1000 using materials from the Roman era
from other buildings. It was the residence of the Congregation of
the Camaldolese monks of Santa Croce di Fonte Avellana from the 12th
century. It was used as a rural house after 1860, a partial
restoration of the interior has recently been carried out.
Church
of San Francesco di Paola - The religious building was erected in
the nineteenth century in neoclassical style following the project
drawn up by the Virtebese Tommaso Giusti and revised by the Ascoli
architect Ignazio Cantalamessa. The first stone of the factory was
laid in the presence of bishop Gregorio Zelli Iacobuzzi on June 15,
1845. The construction works ended on December 3, 1849 and the
church was consecrated on April 7, 1850. The interior develops from
a cross plan fret with supporting columns with arches on each side.
The vault of the central part is characterized by the coffered
ceiling, decorated with a rosette motif and in the center the
monogram of Christ within a radiant sun. The façade is characterized
by the pronaos with six Ionic columns surmounted by the triangular
tympanum. Bell tower aligned with the apse. The church was restored,
between 1989 and 1991, on the initiative of the local Cassa di
Risparmio di Ascoli, which, after having purchased the property, has
assigned its space to an auditorium and conference room.
Cloisters
Main Cloister of San Francesco - It was built in 1565,
thanks to the munificence of the Ascoli lord Vincenzo Cataldi. Its
structure is preceded by a portico of 1300. Its space opens into an
airy quadrangular area and belongs to the complex of the church of
San Francesco. On the wall of the portico there is an oval plaque
commemorating the figures of popes Niccolò IV and Sisto V, both of
whom formed in this convent.
Chiostro Minore di San Francesco -
Construction that dates back to the 14th century, now the internal
courtyard of a building, also belonged to the complex of the church
of San Francesco.
Hermitages
Hermitage of San Giorgio -
Abandoned monastery, is located near the village of Rosara on a
slope facing the center of Castel Trosino. It was built in the year
1382 on the initiative of the bishop Pietro Torricella.
Eremo di
San Marco - Built in the area of the San Marco hill, the hermitage
is located in a very particular position close to a rocky wall.
Built in tanned stone, it has a double order of mullioned windows (5
in all), while to its left stands the bell tower. The first
documents date back to the beginning of the 13th century, when the
Cistercian monks settled there.
Civil architectures
Palaces
Caffè Meletti - Listed in the list of Italian historical
places, it has always been considered the meeting place of the most
illustrious personalities of the city, a meeting point for culture
and social life. It faces directly onto Piazza del Popolo preceded
by a portico with arcades and a frescoed ceiling. The life of the
Café began on May 18, 1907, the day of its inauguration.
Papal
paper mill - Architectural complex located in the Porta Cartara
district near the Castellano stream. The multifunctional vocation of
the building has welcomed, over time, various work activities such
as: the paper mill, the water mills, the tanning of fabrics and the
ironworks, all carried out with the inseparable and precious
symbiosis of the driving force of the nearby waters Castellano
stream.
Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo - Overlooking Piazza del Popolo,
it stands out for its elegant medieval crenellated tower next to the
historic Meletti café. Built between the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries from the union of three small buildings separated by two
rue, one of which has a tower that was later reused, it was
remodeled following the fire that almost entirely destroyed the
interior in 1535. The central portal, preceded by a staircase and
surmounted by the monument to Paul III, the courtyard with three
orders of loggias and the staircase, the latter built by Camillo
Merli around 1550, date back to that period.
Palazzo Ferri -
Located in Corso Giuseppe Mazzini, it has a slightly concave façade
exquisitely decorated with symbolic graffiti executed in 1880 which
represent a real unicum in the city of Ascoli.
Palazzo
Flajani-Bagalini - It is a building in the historic center of Ascoli
Piceno, located in via Quinto Curzio Rufo a few meters from Piazza
del Popolo. In neoclassical style and characterized by the facade in
squared blocks of travertine punctuated by windows with curvilinear
and triangular gables, it was built between 1865 and 1880 by
Giuseppe Sacconi, an Italian architect and politician, known above
all for being the designer of the Vittoriano in Rome.
Government
Palace (also known as Palazzo San Filippo) - It is considered one of
the largest buildings in the city. Its façade occupies the entire
east side of piazza Fausto Simonetti and houses the headquarters of
the Prefecture and the Provincial Administration.
Longobard
Palace - Adjacent to the Ercolani tower which is an integral part of
it, it is a fine example of a noble house with an adjoining tower.
The complex dates back to the 13th century. It represents a very
rare example of perfectly preserved medieval residential building.
Palazzo Malaspina - It is one of the monumental buildings of the
city of Ascoli, built in the second half of the sixteenth century
and obtained with the fusion of fourteenth-century buildings. The
architecture of the building is attributed by Baldassarre Orsini to
Cola dell'Amatrice.
Palazzo Merli - Built in the mid-nineteenth
century, it has a Neo-Renaissance style crenellated façade that
overlooks Piazza Sant'Agostino. Contiguous to the palace and
considered part of it, the two noble twin towers of the XII century
stand out.
Towers
The medieval city had about two hundred
noble towers, whose erection began immediately after the year 1000.
However, Frederick II already had ninety of them destroyed in 1242,
and their reduction and demolition continued progressively even in
the Renaissance, so much so that from the Ferretti plan (1646) 43 of
them can be traced standing. At present there are several dozens,
some of which intact and others transformed into church bell towers;
the rest have been resized and incorporated into the houses. They,
spread throughout the historic city center, appear mainly
concentrated in the North-West area, corresponding to the San
Giacomo district, between Porta Solestà, Via dei Soderini and Piazza
Sant'Agostino.
Torre degli Ercolani - The best known of the
surviving noble towers of Ascoli, was built in the twelfth century
at the same time as the Lombard palace, following the canons of the
noble towers. At the time, the urban noble tower was intended as a
transposition of the castle within the circle of the civic walls: it
reconciled storage and defense functions for the benefit of the
factions that promoted its construction, but it was above all a
visual imposition tool.
Torre degli Alvitreti - Raised in 1925 on
the square base of an existing medieval tower, it is located at the
intersection of via del Trivio and corso Mazzini, the two main axes
of the Roman city, and is incorporated into the structure of the
Alvitreti palace, remodeled in the 16th century.
Torre dei
Capitani del Popolo - Bell tower of the homonymous building in
Piazza del Popolo. Refurbished after being a noble tower, it stands
out for its crenellated and elegant top.
Torre del Cucco -
Located isolated on the Annunziata hill, it was built in the 15th
century. It was part of the defensive system of the nearby Pia
fortress and is so named for the presence of the no longer existing
monastery of San Pietro in Cuculo.
Torre dei Grisanti - Located
in front of Porta Solestà and near the entrance to the Roman bridge,
the noble tower was built in the 12th century.
Torre degli Imbriani - The noble tower dating back to the
thirteenth century, is structurally part of the homonymous palace.
Its shape was modified over the centuries by undergoing a reduction
in height.
Twin Towers of the Merli - They were built in the 12th
century with the typical travertine ashlars. Located side by side in
via delle Torri near the church of Sant'Agostino, they are among the
most beautiful examples of Ascoli noble towers. Both measure 25
meters in height.
Torre dei Parisani - Located near Piazza
Ventidio Basso where it can be admired, the noble tower has
undergone a reduction in height over the centuries.
Torre di
Santa Maria Intervineas - Bell tower of the church of the same name,
adapted after being a noble tower, probably built in the period
between the 12th and 13th centuries. Positioned in an isolated way
from the rest of the church, it has three orders of openings in the
upper part, round and mullioned.
Tower of San Pietro martire -
Bell tower of the church of the same name, adapted after being a
noble tower. Positioned on one side of the church, it stands 36
meters high.
Torre di San Venanzio - Bell tower of the church of
the same name, re-adapted after being a noble tower. The slender
construction boasts of having preserved the double frame of
travertine ashlars along the upper perimeter.
Torre di via delle
Donne - A noble tower dating back to the 12th century, located
behind a raised medieval house and renovated in the 16th century. It
is located near piazza Ventidio Basso, adjacent to the left side of
the church of San Pietro Martire. It houses some rectangular
openings, halfway up, whose frames feature bas-reliefs with braid
and zigzag motifs.
Tower of via dei Soderini - Adjacent to a 15th
century palace, it rises on the south side of via dei Soderini,
almost in front of the Ercolani tower.
Theaters
Ventidio
Basso Theater - Work created by Ireneo Aleandri di Sanseverino
between 1840 and 1846. It is shown with the neoclassical facade, in
travertine, enriched by a central colonnade in Ionic order. The
structure consists of an oval hall with four tiers of boxes, divided
into 23 boxes each and the gallery gallery, for a total capacity of
842 spectators.
Teatro dei Filarmonici - Inaugurated in 1832, it
was built with the funds found by the Philodramatic Society which
was established in 1827. It has a capacity of about 400 seats
distributed between the stalls, the two tiers of boxes and the
gallery.
Roman Theater - In July 2010, after a period of
restoration, the Roman Theater returned to host theatrical events in
the summer. The shows staged are part of the circuit of united
ancient theaters.
Auditorium Emidio Neroni - It consists of the
union of two religious buildings: the church of San Francesco di
Paola, from 1848, and that of San Giovanni ad templum, from the
12th-13th century. The two spaces were restored and united. The
auditorium was inaugurated in 1992.
Auditorium Silvano
Montevecchi - Structured in the shape of a fan, it has a capacity of
about 450 seats and has two small stands on both sides. Opened in
2014, it is used in particular for musical cultural events.
Auditorium Cesare Cellini - It is located in the complex of the
Sant'Agostino cultural center. It has a capacity of 198 seats.
Fountains
Fonte di Sant'Emidio - A 17th century work, framed
by an external loggia divided into five arches surmounted by a
balustrade of small columns. The place binds its history to the
tradition of one of the prodigies of Saint Emidio who, not having
the necessary water available to baptize all the new faithful,
obtained it by beating a stone in this place from which he made the
spring that feeds this source gush out. .
Fonte dei Cani - Born
with the name Fonte dei leoni, it was built in 1823 on a design by
Ignazio Cantalamessa. Currently it is called of the dogs although
the sculptures placed on the front represent two small lionesses,
probably recovered from the church of Sant'Agostino and dating back
to around the 13th century. Over time, the original denomination has
been transformed, since the spring basin is located at a modest
height with respect to the road surface, a feature that facilitates
and facilitates dogs to drink.
Fountains of Porta Maggiore - Near
Porta Maggiore are the two monumental fountains created, on the
occasion of the arrival of the Pescara Aqueduct in Ascoli, by the
architect Vincenzo Pilotti and the sculptor Antonio Mancini. The
composition of the three basins that contain the water is dominated
by the figures of two statues, one female holding a basin and
representing the Waiting, the other male portrayed in the act of
drinking personifies the Arsura.
City gates
The city of Ascoli had the inhabited center enclosed within the
walls that delimited the urban area from the countryside.
The
walls were opened by seven gates that directed traffic to the points
marked by the city gates. The position of the Ascoli hamlet,
collected between the grooves of the Tronto and Castellano rivers,
determined the need to build a bridge at each city gate except for
the two that were located in the western part directly on the road
level, Porta Romana and Porta Corbara.
Porta Romana - It is
considered one of the oldest and most important city gates in
Ascoli, through its archways the Via Salaria entered the city coming
from Rome. With its monumentality it is architecturally classifiable
as a typical Roman construction of the 1st century BC.
Porta
Corbara - It opened at street level, in the west of the city, on the
side of the Cassero (Fortezza Pia).
Porta Solestà - It was built
in 1230, at the beginning of the Roman bridge, at the behest of
Fidemilio da Mogliano, probably using waste materials from a
pre-existing Roman gate. Above the archway, it shows the coat of
arms of the town of Ascoli.
Porta Tufilla - Erected between 1552
and 1555, as evidenced by the epigraph of the string course: “PAULO
IIII PONT MAX MDLV”, by the architect Camillo Merli, on the
foundations of an older one.
Porta Maggiore - Gate on the east
side of the city that connected the urban territory with the other
bank of the Castellano by means of the Maggiore bridge. Demolished
with the unification of Italy, it was built in 1587 as a monumental
honorary arch in travertine, for which the stonemason Antonio
Giosafatti worked: Ascoli's debut of the artistic dynasty of the
Giosafatti.
Porta Cartara - The first name of the door was Santo
Spirito. It led to the city by crossing the bridge of San Nicola in
Ponticello, built on the Castellano in the second half of the 11th
century. Following the construction of the paper mill, commissioned
by Pope Julius II in 1512, it was renamed Cartara. It was also
called Molinara, because it was very close to a mill operated by the
river.
Porta Torricella - It was connected to the other bank of
the Castellano by a bridge that no longer exists. Of the passage
remains the now walled profile visible on the retaining wall of
Lungo Castellano Sisto V.
Bridges
Roman Bridge of Solestà
- Built during the Augustan age, it is known as one of the most
representative bridges of the Roman technique and civilization since
it has fully preserved its construction characteristics. It can be
visited inside through an inspection corridor.
Ponte di Cecco -
Roman bridge from the Republican age. In popular tradition, its
realization is attributed to the devil who, on the orders of Cecco
d'Ascoli, poet and astrologer from Ascoli, would have made it in one
night.
Ponte del Gran Caso - Roman bridge, it takes its name from
the Gran Caso stream of the same name. Consisting of an arch, it was
part of the ancient Via Salaria.
Ponte Maggiore - Its arches
cross the Castellano stream connecting the historic center to the
Porta Maggiore district. It was blown up by retreating German
sappers during World War II. The engineer Giuseppe Viccei rebuilt it
in 1946.
Ponte dei Santi Filippo e Giacomo - Built in the Middle
Ages, it was rebuilt in 1471 due to a partial collapse. It connects
the Porta Maggiore and Monticelli districts, divided in that stretch
by the Tronto river. It can be visited inside through closed rooms
for restoration.
Ponte di Tasso - A disused but still viable
bridge, it was built in the Middle Ages in the area west of the
city.
Ponte Tufillo - It is located near Porta Tufilla. Its first
construction dates back to the time of the Ascoli bishop Alberico,
in the year 1097 and, according to this dating, it would have been
the oldest medieval bridge in Ascoli.
Ponte Nuovo - It was
designed and built in the years between 1909 and 1911 by Umberto
Pierpaoli, architect, and Enrico Cesari, engineer. From its right
parapet you can see the confluence point of two of the three rivers
that cross the city: the Tronto river and the Castellano torrent.
Military architectures
Fortresses
Forte Malatesta -
Fortified construction built near the Cecco bridge, an obligatory
step for those who entered the city from the east. Located near the
banks of the Castellano stream, the current fortress was entirely
rebuilt on the remains of a previous fortress at the behest of the
Lord of Rimini Galeotto Malatesta towards the middle of the
fourteenth century. Reopened to the public in 2010 after about ten
years of restoration, it houses a multifunctional museum complex.
Fortezza Pia - Ancient fortified military building that rises in the
highest area of the city, owes its name to Pope Pius IV who, in
1560, wanted to have it rebuilt.
Other
Squares
Piazza del Popolo - Of Renaissance style, it is considered one of
the most famous squares in Italy. It opens a short distance from the
intersection between the cardo and the decumanus of the city road
system dating back to Roman times. Its space is circumscribed by the
facades of Palazzo dei Capitani, Caffè Meletti and by the light and
gentle Gothic forms of the southern side of the church of San
Francesco, the rest of the perimeter is delimited by palaces with
arched porticoes and crenellated crowning.
Piazza Arringo - This
is the oldest and largest monumental square in the city. It is
believed that it was the seat of the ancient forum, of which it
still retains shape and size, and opens onto the ancient path of the
consular Salaria as it crosses the city. Center of religious and
civil power, it was the driving force of the most important events
in Ascoli's social life. Here St. Francis of Assisi preached in 1215
and St. Giacomo della Marca in 1446; in the year 1355 the Statutes
of the People were drawn up, which replaced the Statutes of the
Municipality, while during the entire medieval and early modern age
it was the place where the equestrian games in honor of Sant'Emidio
were held.
Piazza Ventidio Basso - Large irregular space that
opens in the historic center, already from Roman times and up to the
seventeenth century it was the main commercial hub of the city, it
represents, among the major squares, the one that has best known how
to preserve the building and urban fabric medieval. From this
square, every year, the historical procession of the Quintana
knightly tournament starts.
Streets
Via delle Stelle -
This street is the old walkway that ran outside the city walls.
Taking this route, which begins near Porta Romana and reaches the
Roman bridge of Solestà, is equivalent to diving back in time and
enjoying the opportunity to admire an almost intact panorama of the
city at the time of the communal age.
Via Salaria - It is the
ancient road traveled by the Romans, so called because it was
traveled from Rome to the Adriatic Sea to take salt.
Monuments and architectural works
Aedicule of Lazzaro Morelli -
Built against an apse of the external wall of the church of San
Francesco, in 1639, at the request of the Ascoli Governor Gerolamo
Codebò and dedicated to the Madonna of Reggio.
Loggia dei
Mercanti - Sixteenth-century work that is added to the pre-existing
Gothic facade of the church of San Francesco. Commissioned by the
rich "Wool Guild" it consists of five arches, resting on Corinthian
columns and ends with a crenellated cornice.
Monument to the
Fallen - Dedicated to the Fallen of all wars, it consists of a
marble and brick base surmounted by a bronze statue depicting the
Victory. It was built in 1927 by the sculptor Gaetano Orsolini. It
is located in Piazza Roma.
Monument to Cecco d'Ascoli - It was
built in New York by Ascoli emigrants in the Big Apple and arrived
in Ascoli in 1921. Consisting of a marble base surmounted by a
bronze statue of Cecco d'Ascoli, it is the work of the sculptor
Edoardo Camilli. It is located in Piazza Giacomo Matteotti in the
immediate vicinity of the Ponte Maggiore.
Monument to Vittorio
Emanuele II - Marble work dedicated to Vittorio Emanuele II of
Savoy. It was created in 1882 by the sculptor Nicola Cantalamessa
Papotti and is positioned in the center of the public gardens in the
eastern area of the historic center.
Porta della Musa - This
door is the side entrance of Ascoli's cathedral and is so poetically
named from the couplet that can be read chiseled on the immured
stone in its side. Located between the 4th and 5th pilasters, it is
a late Renaissance work of difficult attribution. Some hypothesize
Carlo Crivelli, others Giuliano da Maiano and still others Lazzaro
di Francesco, but, almost certainly, it is the work of a capable,
skilled and unknown local stonecutter.
Baroque portal - It is
shown with a façade consisting of an imposing door, flanked by two
Ionic semi-columns with banded bosses, and a masonry elevation from
which a balcony faces two caryatids. The work was created by
Giuseppe Giosafatti, in the 17th century, for the palace of the
canon Candido Malaspina which stood on the western side of Piazza
Arringo. The building owned by the canon was demolished to open via
XX Settembre and connect it to the square.
Statue of Christ the
Redeemer - It is a religious monument dedicated to the Redeemer.
Built with blocks of travertine, it was inaugurated on 18 May 1954
and represents Christ facing Ascoli, with his arms open as a sign of
protection. It has an overall height of 12 meters.
Disappeared architectures
Porta Cartara Aqueduct: Roman-style
aqueduct was built in the mid-nineteenth century over the old bridge
that crossed the waters of the Castellano stream. It featured 19
arches with generous arches. It was undermined in 1944 by fleeing
German soldiers.
Roman amphitheater: the remains are buried under
Piazza San Tommaso and adjacent buildings. They were brought to
light but then reinterred in 1974. It has an elliptical shape of 450
m. Its imposing size testifies to the importance of the city at the
time.
Archaeological sites
Roman Theater - Set on the
slopes of the Annunziata hill, it was found during excavations
conducted in 1932, and later in 1951 and 1959. It has the hemicycle
of the steps facing north, its construction dates back to the 1st
century BC. with subsequent restorations and extensions in the first
half of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.
Grotte dell'Annunziata -
Monumental constructions built between the end of the 1st century
BC. and the beginning of the 1st century AD, at the time when the
ancient Asculum had become a colony of Roman law. It is a vast
substructure consisting of a series of vaulted rooms. It was in
function of a monumental building that overlooked the city from the
plateau of the hill, with great scenographic effect. It is assumed
that it was a temple.
Archaeological itinerary inside the Palazzo
dei Capitani - This is an urban archaeological area created in
museum in 1987 that winds inside the ground floor of the Palazzo dei
Capitani and shows the stratigraphy of the floors of the square,
which cover the arch of time between the Roman era and the
contemporary era, with particular interest in the stratifications of
the Roman period from the republican to the late imperial phase.
Necropolis of Castel Trosino - The Lombard necropolis was discovered
in 1893 near the village of Castel Trosino. Over 260 tombs were
found, most of which returned their funerary equipment and other
precious glass, gold and silver manufactures.
Natural areas
Parco dell'Annunziata - The park extends its surface in the highest
area of the city, on the ancient Pelasgian hill, and is considered
the green lung of Ascoli.
Parco della Rimembranza - Inaugurated
on 5 July 1925, on the occasion of the commemoration of the tenth
anniversary of the entry into the war, in the presence of the crown
prince Umberto di Savoia.
“Ugo Tasselli” Park - Located in the
Porta Romana district in the area of the former dartboard, there
is the urban park named after Ugo Tasselli, a young man from Ascoli
who died prematurely. At the entrance to Viale Treviri there is a
plaque dedicated to his memory. Inaugurated on March 30, 2014,
rectangular in shape, it has a green area equipped with a children's
play area, sports facilities for soccer, 5-a-side football, torball
and an area for dogs.
“Benito Di Lorenzo” Botanical Garden - The
garden, inaugurated in 1988, is located in Viale della Repubblica in
the area of the “Celso Ulpiani” State Agricultural Technical
Institute. Born with mainly educational purposes, it hosts countless
varieties of plants including rare variety olive trees.
Corso
Vittorio Emanuele II Public Gardens - Located in the eastern part of
the historic center of the city, it was inaugurated in 1873. Inside
is the statue of Vittorio Emanuele II.
Ascoli was founded by the Italian tribes (Picenas) several
centuries before the founding of Rome along the route of the ancient
salt road known in Roman times as the Via Salaria, which brought
salt from the Adriatic coast to central Italy. In 268 BC. it became
the "Civitas foederata", a federal city with nominal independence
from Rome. In 91 BC., along with other cities from central Italy, he
rebelled against Rome, but in 89 BC. was re-conquered and destroyed
by Pompey Strabo.
In the Middle Ages, Ascoli was ravaged by
the Ostrogoths, and then by the Duke of the Lombards, Faroald (578).
After nearly two hundred years of rule by the Lombard duchy of
Spoleto (593-789), Ascoli was ruled by Frankish governors, but
ultimately it fell under the rule of the local episcopate, which by
that time had acquired enormous influence in the city.
In
1189, a municipal (city) republic was created. However, soon the
internal struggle for power and the war with neighboring cities led
to the loss of civil values and freedoms. This precarious
situation led to the emergence of a dictatorship (signoria) in the
city, such as under Galeotto I Malatesta (14th century), originally
recruited as a mercenary commander (condottiere) in the war against
Fermo, and Francesco Sforza. Sforza was overthrown in 1482, and
Ascoli came under the control of papal suzerainty. In 1860 the
province, together with the Marche and Umbria, was incorporated into
the newly formed United Kingdom of Italy.
The city is located in the southern part of
the Marche region and is 28 km from the Adriatic Sea. Its urban
center rises at an altitude of 154 m asl, in the confluence area
between the Tronto river and the Castellano torrent, surrounded on
three sides by mountains, including the Ascension mountain, the San
Marco hill and the mountain of flowers. Its territory is surrounded
by two protected natural areas: the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga
national park to the south and the Monti Sibillini national park to
the north-west.
The territory of Ascoli Piceno is located in
the Tronto Valley. To the north it borders the municipalities of
Venarotta, Rotella and Castignano, to the east with Appignano del
Tronto, Castel di Lama, Castorano and Colli del Tronto, to the south
with Folignano, Maltignano and the Abruzzo municipalities of
Ancarano, Sant'Egidio alla Vibrata, Civitella del Tronto and Valle
Castellana, to the west with Acquasanta Terme and Roccafluvione.
In the seismic classification of civil protection it is
identified as Zone 2, i.e. an area with medium seismicity, while in
the climatic classification it is marked as Zone D.
Ascoli
Piceno has an exclave (Piana della Forcella, 0.5 square km) between
the municipality of Acquasanta Terme, that of Roccafluvione and an
exclave of the latter (Forcella).