Many of the buildings in the historical part of the city are built using local
travertine. Near the Renaissance square
Piazza del Popolo, the
Piazza Arringo was the administrative and religious centre of the town, surrounded by the
Cathedral, the
baptistery, the Bishop's residence, and the
Palace of the Commune. According to traditional accounts, Ascoli Piceno housed some two hundred towers in the Middle Ages: today some fifty can still be seen.
Churches and convents •
Cathedral of Sant'Emidio, dedicated to
Saint Emygdius, houses an altarpiece by
Carlo Crivelli. •
Tempietto di Sant'Emidio alle Grotte •
Tempietto di Sant'Emidio Rosso •
San Francesco:
Gothic style church begun in 1258. The dome was completed in 1549. A monument to
Pope Julius II is in the side portal, while the central portal is one of the finest examples of local travertine decoration. Adjacent to the church is the 16th century
Loggia dei Mercanti, in
Bramantesque style of the Roman
High Renaissance. • Convent of San Francesco: adjacent to the above-named church, of which two noteworthy cloisters remain today. It was once a prestigious center of culture, whose students included
Pope Sixtus V. •
Sant'Agostino: 14th century church built originally with a single nave, was enlarged with two aisles in the late 15th century. The rectangular façade has a 1547 portal similar to that of Sant'Emidio. The convent houses the town library, the Contemporary Art Gallery and an auditorium. •
San Cristoforo: Catholic
Baroque church located in the historic center of the city •
San Domenico: former convent, now school. It has a
Renaissance cloister with 17th century frescoes. •
Santa Maria Inter Vineas: 13th century church •
San Pietro Martire: 13th century church with a 1523 side portal by
Nicola Filotesio, known locally as Cola d'Amatrice. The interior contains the precious reliquary of the
Holy Thorn, a gift of
Philip IV of France. •
San Tommaso: 1069
Romanesque-style church built with
spolia from the neighboring Roman amphitheater •
San Vittore:
Romanesque church documented from 996 with a low bell tower • Edicola di Morelli: monumental Baroque niche attached to the exterior of the church of San Francesco at the Piazza del Popolo. The niche housed a venerated Madonna image, putatively designed by Lazzaro Morelli, a disciple of
Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Secular buildings • The Roman
Ponte del Gran Caso • Roman Solestà Bridge • Ponte di
Cecco: Roman bridge over the Castellano • The Roman walls of the "Fortezza Pia" in the upper part of the town • "Vesta's" temple: devoted to the cult of Isis • Roman temple rebuilt as an auditorium • The Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo ('Palace of the People's Captains'). Built in the 13th century connecting three pre-existing edifices, it was the seat of the
podestà, the people's captains and, later, of the Papal governors. In the 15th century the southern side was enlarged and, in 1520, a Mannerist façade was added in the rear side. In 1535 it underwent a general renovation, and in 1549 a new portal, with a monument of
Pope Paul III, was added. •
Palazzo dell'Arengo: located near the Cathedral • Palazzo Malaspina: palace in Corso Mezzini, previous 14th century structure reconstructed in the 16th century using designs attributed to architect
Nicola Filotesio • Porta Gemina ('Twin Gate'): an ancient Roman gate from the 1st century BC, through which the
Via Salaria entered the city. The ruins of the ancient theater are located nearby. It had two passageways, each tall and wide. • Porta Tufilla: a tower-like gate built in 1552–55. It is annexed to the Ponte Tufillo, a medieval bridge built in 1097 over the
River Tronto. • Ponte Maggiore ('Great Bridge'), of medieval origin • Lombard Palace and the Ercolani Tower (11th-12th centuries) • Loggia dei Mercanti: a 16th-century portico annexed to the church of San Francesco. It was commissioned by the city's wool traders guild and finished in 1513. • Fortezza Pia: a fortress commanding the city, rebuilt in 1560 by
Pope Pius IV (whence the name) • Malatesta Fortress, in a site probably occupied by Roman baths. It was rebuilt by
Galeotto I Malatesta, lord of Rimini, during the war against
Fermo. The construction, used as a jail until 1978, was enlarged by
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger in 1543. • Grotte dell'Annunziata ('Grottoes of the Annunciation'), a large portico with niches from the 2nd-1st centuries BC, whose original function is unknown (it has been suggested that they could be barracks or slaves dwellings, or a fortified palace) In Castel Trosino, not far from the city, in 1893 a rare 6th century
Lombard necropolis was found.
Parks and gardens •
Giardino Botanico, Istituto Tecnico Agrario Statale "Celso Ulpiani", a
botanical garden ==Economy==