3575 Ascoli Piceno

The town of Ascoli Piceno was rather oddly described in one of my guide books as "The Italian Museum of second rank Architecture", which sounds a bit dismissive, but when you consider the palazzi of Florence and Rome, it means Ascoli is only a little bit behind some truly world beating stuff!

It is a very elegant town, the buildings are predominantly built of a beautifuly coloured travertine, and it all flows together with lovely piazzas - the biggest and best piazza being the Piazza del Popolo.

Don't be put of by the approach to Ascoli - it is one of those Italian towns with some really horrible modern industrial buildings on the lower level; but once you get into the centro storico you can't see any of this nasty stuff, and can well imagine yourself back in renaissance or medieval times.

I hope someone comes up with a restaurant recommendation for Ascoli - unfortunately I didn't have the chance to eat there.

Not as good, or as personal as Charles' lovely pictures, but on the following site there are photos, and some quite amusing translations.
"All the environment is cheering up, full of peace and mysticism."

[url]http://www.rinascita.it/rinascita_web/pag_ascoli/itinerari/itiner_ingl.html[/url]

Category
Do & See

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 05/07/2006 - 17:00

I wrote an article about Ascoli Piceno a year ago, it might be interesting for some of you. Here is the link:

[url]http://www.angelorecchi.com/nuovo_blog/2004/12/ascoli-piceno-and-caff-meletti.html[/url]

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 05/07/2006 - 17:05

Thankyou so much for that link - lovely photos, but more importantly your own personal view on this beautiful town!

The other big attraction of Ascoli is that it is not full of tourists - it is just as interesting and elegant a town to visit as Siena, but full of Italians rather than..........the rest of the world!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 05/07/2006 - 20:38

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JUst watch out for the one way system :D

Dave & Dawn

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/08/2006 - 02:00

Part of ancient Ascoli's fascino for me are the 2 squares, Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Arringo with their travertine buildings. The best time is around dusk when the lights are turned on.
Caffe Meletti is a must and so to is the Quintana, Ascoli's famous medieval jousting contest.
Other gems to look out for are the Torre Ascolane, reminiscent of San Gimignano's towers.
In the week running up to Christmas, there's a massive antiques fair in Ascoli (there's usualy one every Saturday).

Gastronomic delights/Christmas market Loggia dei Mercanti/Christmas antiques Piazza Arringo/Caffe Meletti/Torre Ascolane

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/08/2006 - 03:25

Ascoli is also called la Citta di mille segreti...apparently un segreto gastronomico are the olive all'ascolana, which according to tradition that goes back a few centuries, are the most representative piceno dish. The classical recipe is not easy to replicate and is a gealously guarded secret!

Although not in Ascoli itself, the best restaurant for traditional piatti piceni in my opinion can be found in the countryside at Frazione San Savino di Ripatransone. Ristorante & Enoteca Picena San Savino.

Piazza Arringo-cathedral/Ponte di Solesta/street scene/ and the Torre Ascolane

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/13/2006 - 19:25

We often visit Ascoli and our favourite restaurant is Ristorante Tornasacco in Piazza del Popolo. Aparently Ernest Hemingway dined there and said 'Puoi scoprire il cuore di Ascoli, mangiando a Tornasacco'.
If anyone has a chance to visit, this place is a must for quality, traditional food at a reasonable price and if possible, get a table near one of the windows that overlook Piazza del Popolo.

Biagio