Piazza del Popolo - Ascoli Piceno

When I first entered Piazza del Popolo, the beauty of the surrounding buildings took my breath away. This large square in the heart of Ascoli Piceno (see map) paved with gleaming travertine and flanked by Renaissance porticoes, is the setting for the city's finest buildings - the Palazzo dei Capitani, the Church of San Francesco and a line of lovely colonnaded stores (the Loggia dei Mercanti).

Piazza del Popolo - the heart of Ascoli Piceno

Piazza del Popolo- The People’s Square - is the place where everyone gathers to meet, to watch, eat, shop and take their evening stroll, the passeggiata. There are many restaurants here serving local cuisine at reasonable prices. Another wonderful thing about this piazza and nearby Piazza Arringo, is that they are traffic free zones so you don’t have to worry about a car or a scooter startling you as you stroll around. This gives the town a very special ambience of tranquility and serenity and makes it magical by both day and night.

View of Sibillini hills from Piazza del Popolo

Surrounding the town are the Sibillini hills and only thirty minutes away is the beach at San Benedetto del Tronto, making it a perfect location, well serviced by public transport. It is a thriving town with a well-preserved historic centre. Its pretty side streets are like warrens, inviting you to explore them. Everyone we met was really friendly. For example, when we entered Palazzo dei Capitani, the woman at the desk offered to give us a guided tour. The façade of this building has a sculpted portal with a monument to Pope Paul III and a beautiful large stone clock. Inside she showed us the pretty three-tiered Renaissance courtyard surrounded by arcades, the seat of council on the first floor and an underground archeological route with Roman ruins below.

Palazzo dei Capitani

View of Loggia dei Mercanti from Palazzo dei Capitani

Our friend Stefano suggested that we have a caffe corretto all’anisetta in the adjacent building, the famous                Caffè Anisetta Meletti.

 Anisetta is a sweet, delicious aniseed-flavoured liqueur. It gave us a warm feeling as we sat beneath the frescoed porticoes with elegant arches and watched the action in the square. The service was very attentive, but not intrusive. This Café has been featured in many films, commercials and photo shoots.

Caffe Anisetta Meletti - Piazza del Popolo

Caffe corretto all'anisetta

In business since 1907, the interior retains its Art Deco style, with rich, warm woodwork and a décor that takes you back in time. I was especially drawn to the round Carrara marble topped tables with scenes from films that were set in this café, the most famous of which is possibly

 ‘Alfredo, Alfredo’ (1972) starring Dustin Hoffman.

A scene from 'I Delfini' (1960)
Left to right: Anna-Maria Ferrero, Gerard Blain, Claudia Cardinale

Tabletops in Caffe Meletti

Next we went to the Church of San Francesco at the top of the square. It has three gothic portals sculpted from travertine and two bell-towers. Inside, the stained-glass windows have different stories to tell as they filter light throughout the interior. In the left nave is a crucifix that miraculously survived a fire and is reported to have spilled blood twice.

Interior of Chiesa di San Francesco

Last but not least, the Café Lorenz to the left of the church sells takeaway stuffed olives, a speciality of the region called “Olive all’Ascolana”. I usually find green olives quite bitter but was encouraged to try these and discovered they were surprisingly delicious! They are large green Picene olives, stuffed with mixed meats, usually pork and veal, breaded, deep fried and served hot. You can also find these in Piazza Arringo at a vendor named Migliori.

Takeaway  'Olive all'Ascolana'

In the opening scene from the film 'I Delfini' there is a marvellous panorama of Ascoli Piceno followed by atmospheric shots of Piazza del Popolo and the exterior of Caffe Anisetta Meletti.



I hope that between this and my previous post, I’ve given you enough reasons to take a day trip to amazing Ascoli Piceno.

A Day Trip to Ascoli Piceno, Le Marche

We visited the stunning medieval town of Ascoli Piceno (see map) in Le Marche on the first Sunday in August, which luckily for us, coincided with their annual celebration of the Quintana. The Quintana is a historical medieval jousting tournament held on the feast day of Sant’Emidio, the town’s patron saint. When we arrived it looked as if we had stepped onto a film set, as we were transported back to another era. Hundreds of townspeople, dressed in full ceremonial 15th century costume, colourful flag-throwers (sbandieratori) and trumpeters marched past us along the main street to a steady drumbeat. There was a real carnival atmosphere in the town.

Piazza Arringo was their destination. This huge travertine-paved piazza, that shines like marble, is absolutely breathtaking and surrounded by magnificent architecture. A religious procession followed, in which the statue of Sant’Emidio was carried on the back of a cart drawn by two oxen to the Cathedral of Saint Emidio.

Statue of Sant'Emidio being transported to the Cathedral

Piazza Arringo - Cathedral of Saint Emidio with Baptistry of Saint John to its left



Beautiful interior of the Cathedral of Saint Emidio

Masterpiece by Carlo Crivelli in the Cathedral of St Emidio

Detail of ceiling in Cathedral of St Emidio


At both ends of this piazza are pretty twin fountains, depicting dragons, seahorses and a dolphin like figure on the top. In Piazza Arringo you will also find the Municipal Art Gallery La Pinacoteca Civica, with one of the richest collections of religious paintings in Italy, including works by Carlo Crivelli, Titian, Tintoretto and Guido Reni.

Fontana di Piazza Arringo

Six knights came by with the banners of their districts displayed behind them. What we didn’t realise at the time, was that the jousting tournament (La Quintana) was going to take place in the local stadium after the procession. The six knights ride a course one after the other trying to hit an effigy of a warrior. Strength and agility are necessary for the knight to win the palio or grand prize

Knight of Porta Solestia

Once the excitement of the parade was over we strolled around the charming piazza admiring the elegant buildings. We got a glimpse of the rest of this beautiful town from the quaint narrow side streets. I would have loved to have had more time to explore its many alleyways, bridges, pretty shops underneath the porticoes and its many towers. Ascoli Piceno is also known as the 'town of 100 towers' although there are 'only' 50 of them left today.

The Twin Towers of Ascoli in Piazza Sant'Agostino

Since the late 1300s, competitions for flag-throwing and archery take place during weekends in July with the main event, the Quintana, held in August. For the citizens of Ascoli Piceno these festivals are the expression of a rich history inextricably linked to their territory. Many of the town’s population of 51,000 participate in these events which connect them to age-old traditions and every detail of these celebrations is orchestrated to perfection. I felt privileged to have witnessed this fascinating ceremony. Even without this impressive festival, Ascoli Piceno is a very captivating town and well worth visiting at any time of the year.

Piazza del Popolo nearby, is surrounded by magnificent buildings such as the Palazzo dei Capitani, the Loggia dei Mercanti, the Gothic church of San Francesco and the famous Caffè Anisetta Meletti. There is so much more to see in this piazza alone, so I will leave that for the next post. One day is just not enough to experience all of the wonders of Ascoli Piceno!


Map of Ascoli Piceno
How to get to Ascoli Piceno by car, bus or train
Hotels in Ascoli Piceno