Ascoli Piceno - Sights and History

• Piazza del Popolo is the lively main square of Ascoli Piceno. Here you will find the imposing Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo and the impressive Chiesa di San Francesco, known for its beautiful façade and ornate frescoes.
• Piazza Arringo is another picturesque square surrounded by historic buildings. Here you will also find the Pinacoteca Civica, an art gallery that houses an impressive collection of paintings from different eras.
• The Cathedral of Ascoli Piceno is a magnificent religious building in Romanesque-Gothic style. With its ornate decorations and imposing bell tower, it is definitely worth a visit.
• Café Meletti is a historic Art Nouveau café in Piazza del Popolo in Ascoli Piceno , to the left of Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo. It is famous for its Anisetta Meletti Dry, an Italian speciality from the Marche region, made with the best green aniseed from the Ascoli Piceno area.
  
• The Chiesa dei Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio is another impressive church in Ascoli Piceno. It stands out for its elegant architecture and rich interior decoration.
• Sant'Emidio alle Grotte is a unique church built into a natural grotto. It is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Emidius.
• The Chiesa di San Pietro Martire is a historic church with a magnificent façade and rich interior decoration, including valuable frescoes and altarpieces.
• The Chiesa di San Tommaso Apostolo is another important church in Ascoli Piceno, known for its Romanesque architecture and ornate sculptures.
• The Chiesa della Scopa is a small church with a charming atmosphere and an interesting collection of religious artworks.
• The Forte Malatesta is an imposing fortress that towers high above the city. From here you can enjoy a breathtaking view of Ascoli Piceno and the surrounding countryside.
• The river Tronto flows through the town and offers the opportunity for relaxing walks along its banks. The Ponte Romano di Solestà is an ancient Roman bridge that crosses the river and is an impressive example of Roman engineering.
• Ascoli's horse show, the "Giostra della Quintana", was first mentioned in the town's statutes of 1377. The tournament takes place every year on the first Sunday in August. Large parts of the inhabitants present themselves in historically accurate medieval costumes. About 1500 people take part in the parades in the morning alone. The actual competition, the Quintana, is a jousting contest on horseback with a lance. The representatives of the six districts gallop along a course in the shape of a figure eight. In the middle stands an oversized figure of a Saracen. The winner is the one who rides the fastest and hits the Saracen the best. This ritual is reminiscent of the Saracens, who tried unsuccessfully to conquer Italy several times in the Middle Ages. In the evening, various festivals take place in all parts of the city.

The origins of Ascoli Piceno date back to the Stone Age. According to Italian tales, the town was founded by Sabines who, on one of their migrations called ver sacrum, were guided by a woodpecker, a bird sacred to Mars. Later, the Sabines mixed with other local peoples and out of them came the Picenes, who founded Ascoli 1600 years before Rome was founded. In 299 BC, Ascoli allied itself with the Romans in the Third Samnite War and later became a civitas foederata of Rome. It thus retained a certain autonomy and became an important centre of the Picenum - also thanks to its location on the Via Salaria, which connected the salt flats at the mouth of the Tiber with those on the Adriatic coast. In 91 BC it rebelled with other Italic peoples against Rome, but was conquered by Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo. After the conquest, Ascoli received Roman citizenship and became a municipium. In Roman times, the city was laid out according to plan, with orthogonal street axes that are still visible in the historic centre. During the civil war it supported Caesar and took the name Asculum Picenum. Under the Second Triumvirate it was given the honorary title of Triumviral Colony. During Late Antiquity it belonged to the Picenum Suburcarium region. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Ascoli suffered the same fate as the other provinces. The Migration Period brought with it a variety of conquests and dominations: Germanic tribes, Ostrogoths, Byzantium and the Lombards. Lombard power developed and the bishops gained influence. The city eventually fell under the control of the Franks. During this period, the bishops strengthened their power and obtained the right to mint coins by a diploma from Conrad II in 1037.

In 1183 Ascoli became a free municipality, but was sacked and destroyed by the troops of Frederick II. Factional struggles between influential families such as the D'Acquavivas undermined municipal freedoms. Noble families such as Guiderocchi and Saladini played an important role in political events. Ladislaus I, King of Naples, appointed the Condottiere Conte da Carrara Viceroy of Abruzzo and Prince of Ascoli. Galeotto Malatesta and Francesco Sforza later ruled the city. Internal unrest led to riots, massacres and a decline in civic virtues.

Ascoli became part of the Roman Republic and was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. During the Second World War, the town resisted the German occupation,which earned the town the Gold Medal for Military Valour for its partisan activities.

Part of the territory was long claimed by the rival town of Fermo. In 2004, the province of Fermo was re-established.
It is worth mentioning that Ascoli Piceno has been hit by several earthquakes in the past, including the 1703 earthquake, the 1781 earthquake and the 2016 earthquake, which caused severe damage. The region remains seismically active.