Numana (Marche)

Numana is a town and comune of the province of Ancona in the Marche region of Italy. It is a central Adriatic coastal town, which lies at the southern foot of Monte Conero. The city was anciently known with the name of Humana. The legend tells that the mythological founder of the city was this Picenis Queen, a giant figure of a woman with half of the body in the shape of a snake and with wide wings on her back. The Queen threw fireballs on the seaside burning down a wood and on those cinders raised up the city of Humana (meaning human in Latin). The old town is often called "Numana alta" as it is on top of a cliff overlooking the sea and can be described almost in continuity with the settlement of Sirolo, while "Numana bassa" includes the area around the port. The beach of "Numana alta" comprises two bays formed close to the cliff: the Spiaggiola Beach and the friars and the beach of "Numana bassa" extending to the south of the port village of Marcelli.