Ascoli Piceno

**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 km<sup>2</sup>).

Ascoli Piceno borders with the following _comuni_ː 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

## Other websites

- Ascoli Piceno official website

## Infobox (italian comune)

- **name**: Ascoli Piceno
- **official name**: Città di Ascoli Piceno
- **image skyline**: Ascoli Piceno.jpg
- **image caption**: Piazza del Popolo
- **image flag**: Flag of Ascoli Piceno.svg
- **image shield**: Ascoli Piceno-Stemma.svg
- **region**: Marche
- **province**: Province of Ascoli Piceno, Ascoli Piceno (AP)
- **frazioni**: see Ascoli Piceno#Frazioni, list
- **mayor party**: Brothers of Italy, FdI
- **mayor**: Marco Fioravanti
- **area total km2**: 160
- **population total**: 48,278
- **population as of**: 30 September 2018
- **population demonym**: Ascolani
- **elevation m**: 154
- **saint**: St. Emygdius
- **day**: 5 August
- **postal code**: 63100
- **area code**: 0736