Field Trip II: Ascoli Piceno

Today we spent at a city in the southern Marche region, a rival to Macerata, called Ascoli Piceno. It was a truly beautiful city. Tons to churches, I think there were 26 total listed on the map. And it was a lot closer to the Sibillini Mountains with nice views. It was not a hill town, instead was built in the junction of two deep river ravines and used those for defense instead. Which of course was an economic boon for the city in the old days as well, since they didn't have to devote money and time to building and rebuilding walls.

The other cool thing about Ascoli Piceno were the towers... it used to be that the rich type folks built tall, square stone towers on their houses to keep their valuables hidden away in. The original towers had wooden staircases wrapping around the exterior, which have been removed now. There are only a few left. Since the staircases have been removed it seems they probably can't even get up into them now. They're very tall... something like 6 or 8 stories tall? Neat stuff.

So, put Ascoli Piceno on your list of good places to visit in Italy... More photos here!

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