Ascoli Piceno () is a comune and city in the Marche region, in central Italy. Ascoli Piceno is the capital of the province of the same name.

The central historical part of the city is built in marble called travertino, a grey-hued stone extracted from the surrounding mountains. Its central Renaissance square, Piazza del Popolo ("Square of the People") is considered one of the most beautiful in Italy.

Geography
The town is in the valley of the Tronto river, at the confluence of this river and the small river Castellano and is surrounded on three sides by mountains. Two national parks border the town, one on the northwestern side (Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini) and the other on the south (Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga).

The comune of Ascoli Piceno has an area of  and its altitude is . It has a small exclave (Piana della Forcella, 0,5 km2).

Ascoli Piceno borders with the following comuniː to the north, Venarotta, Rotella, Castel di Lama and Castorano; to the east, Castignano, Appignano del Tronto and Colli del Tronto; to the south, Folignano, Maltignano and the comuni of the province of Teramo (Abruzzo) of Ancarano, Sant'Egidio alla Vibrata, Civitella del Tronto and Valle Castellana; and to west with Acquasanta Terme, Roccafluvione and Venarotta.

Some mountains close to comune are Monte Ascensione, Montagna dei Fiori and Monte Vettore.

Frazioni
The following frazioni (hamlets) are part of Ascoli Picenoː Bivio Giustimana, Campolungo, Caprignano, Carpineto, Casalena, Casamurana, Case Schiavi, Castel Trosino, Cavignano, Cervara, Colle, Colle San Marco, Colloto, Colonna, Colonnata, Coperso, Faiano, Fonte di Campo, Funti, Giustimana, Il Palazzo, Lago, Lisciano, Lisciano di Colloto, Montadamo, Monte di Rosara, Morignano, Mozzano, Oleificio Panichi, Palombare, Pedana, Piagge, Pianaccerro, Polesio, Ponte Pedana, Porchiano, Rosara, San Gaetano, San Pietro, Santa Maria a Corte, Talvacchia, Taverna di mezzo, Trivigliano-Villa Pagani, Tozzano, Tronzano, Valle Cupa, Valle Fiorana, Valle Senzana, Valli, Vena piccola, Venagrande, Villa Sant'Antonio.

History
Ascoli was founded by an Italic population (Piceni) several centuries before the building by Rome of the important Via Salaria, the salt road that connected Latium with the salt production areas on the Adriatic coast. In 268 BC it became a civitas foederata, a "federated" city with nominal independence from Rome.

In 91 BC, together with other cities in central Italy, it revolted against Rome, but in 89 BC was reconquered and destroyed by Pompeius Strabo. Its inhabitants got Roman citizenship, following the developments and the eventual fall of the Roman Empire.

Population
There are 49,203 persons living in the comune in 2017, for a population density of  inhabitants/km².

Evolution of the population

The people from this comune are known, in Italian, as ascolani.

Twinned towns
Ascoli Piceno is twinned with:
 Trier, Germany, since 1958
 Massy, France, since 1997
 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, since 1998
 Chattanooga, United States, since 2006
 Bayonne, France, since 2008
 Norcia, Italy, since 2010
 Amatrice, Italy, since 2010
 Veles, Republic of Macedonia, since 2011
 Civitella del Tronto, Italy

Gallery

References

Other websites

Ascoli Piceno official website 

Towns in Italy
Settlements in Marche
Capital cities in Italy