Pause at the city gate to visit the sanctuary of San Francesco, then climb up the town's narrow winding streets, past the unique long piazza to the 14th-century cathedral which crowns the hillside. If you believe in heaven, you will feel very close to it here. Just above it is the fortress, built a few decades earlier. The palazzos and belltowers of Ascoli stand out pale and pink against the mountains that form the city's backdrop, and busy Piazza del Popolo, with its lovely porticoed arcades, is a beautiful place to sit awhile. You will feel like a very smug foreigner indeed if you do.
T wo more jewels remain on our itinerary.
To reach them we travel north again, hugging the edge of the national park. We make a brief foray to San Severino to see Pinturicchio's stunning Mater Pacis, then we head west until we reach the great hill on which sits Camerino. Standing next to Porta San Giulia in the early morning or late afternoon, you see the landscape beloved of all the Renaissance masters from Perugino to Leonardo.