Ascoli Piceno, capital of the province of the same name, lies in the southern part of the coastal region of the Marches, in Central Italy, at the confluence of the rivers Castellano and Tronto. The town is some 30km/19mi from the Adriatic.
On the north side of the Piazza del Popolo, here traversed by the Corso Mazzini, the long principal street of the town, stands the Gothic hall-church of San Francesco (1258-1371) with a doorway in Venetian Gothic style, and linked to it the crenellated Loggia dei Mercanti (covered market; 1513). On the north side are two beautiful cloisters.
From the Piazza dell'Arringo the Corso Vittorio Emanuele runs east past the municipal park to the medieval bridge over the Castellano, the Ponte Maggiore. From here there is a fine view to the left of the Monte dell'Ascensione (1,103m/3,640ft) and to the right of the Ponte di Cecco, a two-arched Roman bridge (restored after destruction in the Second World War).
On the east side of the square is the Cathedral of Sant'Emidio, originally an Early Romanesque building, which has been altered several times. The facade is attributed to Cola dell'Amatrice. In the large chapel in the south aisle is an altarpiece by Crivelli (1473). Note: impressive paintings of the Madonna and various apostles and saints are also to be seen. About 1470 the Venetian artist Crivelli settled in Ascoli Piceno and his work had a marked effect on the artistic development of the region.
A road runs south from Ascoli Piceno and winds its way up to the Colle San Marco (694m/2,290ft). 5km/3 mi farther south, beyond the Rigugio Paci (905m/2,987ft) is the starting point of the cableway up the Monte Piselli (1,676m/5,531ft). From the summit there are magnificent views, on a clear day as far as the Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia.
A little way southeast of the Piazza del Popolo is the Piazza dell'Arringo with the massive Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall; 1683-1745), which houses a Museum of Art containing paintings by Cola dell'Amatrice, Crivelli and Titian, etc. and a very valuable cope (worn by Catholic priests during the ritual duties) which was presented to the cathedral of Ascoli Piceno by Pope Nicholas IV in 1288.
The center of Ascoli Piceno is the picturesque Piazza del Popolo, in which the "Torneo cavalleresco della Quintana", a medieval joust preceded by a parade with musical accompaniment, is held on the first Sunday in August. In the Piazza is the Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo (13th century, remodeled in 16th century).
Northwest of the Piazza del Popolo, Via di Solestà leads to the Ponte Romano Augustea, a Roman bridge over the Tronto. A little way southwest stands the Palazzetto Longobardo (10th century?) and adjoining it the Torre Ercolani, a tower 40m/132ft high.
At the west end of the Corso Mazzini in Ascoli Piceno, in the Piazza di Cecco, is the Porta Gémina (first century B.C.), a double gate through which in Roman times the Via Salaria entered the town; nearby can be seen the remains of a Roman amphitheater.
Some 300m/330yd northwest of the Piazza del Popolo are the Romanesque church of Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio (11th century) with a facade of 64 square compartments, and the church of San Pietro Martire.
Above Ascoli Piceno to the southwest rises the monastic church of the Santissima Annunziata (views). There are even more extensive views from the castle "Fortezza Pia" (16th century), farther to the west.
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