Population:  50,135 (2001)
Official website: Ascoli Piceno
Wikipedia: Ascoli Piceno
Map: MapQuest

Ascoli Piceno is a city with a venerable history.  It was originally settled by the Sabini, an early Italic tribe, and there is evidence that there was a significant Greek presence in as early as 500 BC.  The Romans finally asserted their dominance over the the Sabines and other Italic tribes that had continued to resist its supremacy  and the city fell in about 89 BC.

Until the collapse of the Roman Empire during the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, it remained under Roman within the Roman control.  During ancient times it commanded a strategic location on the Via Salaria, the road that connected Rome to the salt works along the Adriatic Sea coast.

Rule over Ascoli Piceno changed hands several times during the middle ages.  It was conquered by the Longobards in 789 AD, then by the Franks under Charlemagne in 789 AD.  It achieved status as an independent comune for a time, but ultimately found itself firmly within the Papal States where it remained, except for a short period during the Napoleonic conquests, until the Marche was annexed by the modern state of Italy in 1860.

The city which has a few major industries, but is mostly a city that sustains itself on small businesses and now tourism, sits about 25 kilometers inland from the Adriatic at the confluence of the relatively large River Tronto and a smaller river the Castellano Creek.  The area is hedged in by the Sibillini Mountains (now the Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini) to the northwest and the Laga Mountains to the south (now the Parco Nazionale dei Monti della Laga).

The city boasts high walls along the Tronto River, and several gates that offer access to the centro storico.  Two bridges, the Ponte Nuovo and the so-called Devil's bridge are to be noted.

In the old part of the city one finds two large piazzas, the Piazza del Popolo, which is bounded by a long arcade with shops on one side, and the Palazzo del Comune or city hall on another.  The Piazza del Doumo or Piazza Arringo in front of the Cathedral, was a piazza where, during the middle ages, public oration - or haranguing - was practiced by public men.  There are, of course, the usual compliment of other churches, public buildings and private villas, some of which house museums of various descriptions.

The city government has done an outstanding job of compiling a lot of information of interest to travelers who make it to Ascoli Piceno, and all of it is on the Net.  We, therefore, resist the urge to write more.

Here's a link to the city's English speaking portal: Ascoli Piceno

This article was added by Vian Andrews on May 11, 2006