Province 

The province of Ascoli Piceno represents the southern part of the Marches, between the Aso and the Tronto rivers. It sweetly extends from the mounts Sibillini (Apennine Umbro-Marchigiano) to the Adriatic sea: 1303 km²; 207.216 inhabitants, distributed in 33 municipalities (159 for km²). The morfology and the riches of water favored the development of modern and profitable economical sectors like the agriculture (cultivations and breedings), the mechanical and the textile. It's the zone of production of the Rosso Piceno wine and of the white Falerio wine. The industrialization process has nevertheless caused a crisis in the agriculture and in the craftsmanship, and for example covers today a marginal role the silkworm breeding, flourishing in the past.
At present there are very active factories for the apparel (footwear, hosiery, dresses), for light metallurgy, for the frozen products preparation and for the DOC wines production.
Of remarkable importance is the fishing instead: Porto San Giorgio, Grottammare and, above all, San Benedetto del Tronto are among the greater Italian fishings ports. The most flourishing food industries (i.e. canning and refrigeration) of the adriatic coast, tied to the fishing activity, are concentrated here. Other industrial activities to remark are those extractive (travertino quarries and, above all, offshore methane silk) and buildings. The tourism, beyond the artistic beauties Ascoli Piceno, counts in always greater measure on the seaside resorts of the adriatic coast. In the province, the principal centers are: San Benedetto del Tronto, Acquasanta Terme, Offida and Grottammare.

 
Municipalities

Acquasanta Terme Acquaviva Picena (2°) Appignano del Tronto Arquata del Tronto (2°) Ascoli Piceno Carassai Castel di Lama Castignano Castorano Colli del Tronto Comunanza

Cossignano Cupra Marittima (2°) Folignano (2°) Force Grottammare (2°) Maltignano (2°) Massignano Monsampolo del Tronto Montalto Marche (2°) Montedinove (2°) Montefiore dell'Aso (2°)

Montegallo Montemonaco (2°) Monteprandone (2°) Offida (2°) Palmiano Ripatransone (2°) Roccafluvione Rotella San Benedetto del Tronto (2°) Spinetoli (2°) Venarotta

 
Ascoli Piceno - The town is situated at 154 m. above sea level on an alluvial terrace near the con Fluence of the Castellano and Tronto rivers, about 30 km. from the Adriatic coast. It was founded by the Piceni and conquered by the Romans in 286 BC. However, a rebellion broke out in 91 BC. at the time of the Social Wars, but was quelled two years later. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Ascoli Piceno was ruled by the Lombards until 774, when the Franks gave it to the Church. During the Middle Ages it was ruled by the Bishops and later (12th century) became a free municipality. In 1242 Frederick II of Swabia conquered Ascoli, but a few years later it again passed under Papal rule, although the power of the Church was only nominal, as the town was governed by various local lords. Only in 1426 did Ascoli become definitively part of the Papal States and share their fortunes until 1860, when it was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy. 
The town's medieval urban structure repeats the ancient Roman orthogonal plan and is still clearly visible. Modern suburbs have developed this century beyond the rivers.
The monuments include: Baptistry (12th century, Romanesque), St. Vincent and St. Anastasio (11th-14th century, Romanesque), St. Francis (Gothic, 13th-16th century), Loggia dei Mercanti (16th century), Palace dei Capitani del Popolo (16th century), Duomo (15th-18th century with a valuable 1473 polyptych by Carlo Crivelli), Ponte di Solestà (Roman, Augustian period), Palazzetto Longobardo (12th century), various medieval and Renaissance churches and buildings.
From an economic point of view, Ascoli is an active trading centre for agricultural products (cereals, vegetables, fruit and olives) but it also has building, chemical, paper-manufacturing, engineering, textile and food industries. The service sector is important as is tourism, attracted by the town's artistic heritage and folklore as well as by the nearby Montagna dei Fiori (1,676 m.), a winter holiday resort.
Events: Quintain Tournament with Renaissance Costumes (August), Carnival.
Famous People: Francesco Stabili, called `Cecco d'Ascoli' (poet and astrologer, 1269-1327), Antonio Bonfini (humanist and historian, 1427-1505), Ludovico Trasi (artist, 1634-1695), Antonio Orsini (naturalist, 1788-1870).  
Cultural Institutions: State Archives, Archeological Museum, Diocesan Museum, Civic Art Gallery (with works by Guercino, Strozzi, Van Dyck, among others).
 
Acquasanta Terme - On the right of the Tronto river at 392 m a.s.l.. Important hydrothermal resort (sulphurous water- chlorine-bromo-iodurate).
 
Grottammare - Placed at 4 m a.s.l. to north of the mouth of Tesino. It enjoys a mild climate and a wide, sandy beach running into a shallow sea. In the medieval historic borgo up above the main resort there's a charming portico from which one can admire a fabulous panorama of the lower part of Grottamare, of San Benedetto del Tronto and of the Adriatic sea. Here, there are the church of St. Agostino which preserves a fresco of V. Pagani "Madonna della Misericordia" and the church of St. Lucy built in memory of the town's most famous son, Pope Sixtus V. Above it all stands the ruins of the old Castle. The Romanesque style church of St. Martin preserves a commemorative inscription of the restoration made by Emporer Hadrian to the temple of the Dea Cupra where a Jubilee fair is held every time that July 1st falls on a Sunday.
 
Offida - Placed at 293 m a.s.l., on a spur near sources of the Lama torrent (left affluent of the Tronto). Wine production, cereals and vegetables. The industry is present principally in the footwear manufacture and leather transformation. Lace making is one of Offida's most common crafts. Originally begun among working families in the 1400's, the art of lace making was later cultivated by religious orders and aristocratic families. The place still has an old-fashioned air about it and little has yet been over-restored. It preserves ruines of medieval walls, with towers and bastions. The church of Santa Maria della Rocca stands a little way from the main piazza (unusual triangular), along via Roma. The Romanesque-Gothic church is one of the area's most important examples of Piceno monastic art with three poligonal apses and cripta frescoed. The upper church, with its single, notably high nave and truss beam ceiling, is reached by a spiral staircase. Other monuments are the Communal Palace (XIII - XV cent.), with prehystoric museum and a small picture gallery; the Collegiata of Assunta ( with Crivelli's school frescoes inside ); the church of Sant' Augustin (XIV cent.), widened in XVII cent, with the carved woodly chorus of Alessio Donati.
 
Ripatransone - Situated at 494 m a.s.l., on a hilly relief between the low valleys of Tesino and Menocchia. Agricultural center (cereals, wine, forages, vegetables and fruits) with shoe manufactures, wood industries, wineries and building enterprises. It's also an holiday resort. During the 16th century the town experienced a period of prosperity and prestige, and was elevated to the status of city with its own cathedral (magnificent 17thC pictures and baroque wood carvings inside). It onserves a part of city-walls of the XV cent., the Podestà Palace of the 1304, the 17thC churches of Saint Filippo and Saint Chiara and the church of Saint Michele Arcangelo, with bell tower of the 1598 and cripta of the 14thC. In the Municipal Palace, reconstructed in the XVII cent., there are a museum and a picture gallery togheter with a collection of maioliche, coins and medals.
 
San Benedetto del Tronto - City situated at 6 m a.s.l. on the coast of the Adriatic sea, between the mouths of the Tesino river to north and the Tronto river to south. It's one of the greater fishing port of Italy and a great fish market. Shipyards, fish canning industry and transport companies are the main activities; chemical industry, metallurgical factories, paper, clothing and plastic manifacturing are also important. It is one of the main holiday resorts of the southern Marche. The sea-front is characterized by a luxuriant vegetation, mainly given by countless palm-trees growing even in the sand. Because of its typical aspect, S.Benedetto del Tronto is also referred to as the "Riviera of the palm-trees". The older part of the town sits above the main resort, on the far side of Corso Mazzini, with its castle and narrow streets of brick houses. Another notable monument is the Gualtieri Tower which dates back to the XIIIth century: it is built on a stretched hexagonal plan and it presents brackets and crenellations, probably the remains of an ancient fortress that was to be transformed in the XVth century. In the thick pine forest, close to Villa Laureati, in the Salario neighbour, can be found the so called Guelphic Tower from the XIV century or what remains of an important fortress which was distroyed by Gentile da Mogliano in 1348. In the very core of the town centre it is possible to visit the abbey dedicated to the Patron Saint and Martyr Benedetto: it is in Romanesque style and it keeps inside a "Madonna del Rosario" of the XIVth century, a "Madonna del Carmine" of the XVIth century and the urn of the patron saint made out of encarved wood and painted in pure gold. In the neighbour named after St. Lucy there is a little church dedicated to the saint which is usually reached by multitudes of pilgrims at Easter. On a crag, in the quarter Valle Oro, is located the Oratory of Our Lady of Compassion, a building from the XVIIth century. Inside it preserves a Madonna attributed to Maratta from Camerano.
S.Benedetto del Tronto is also the land of the famous dish "Brodetto alla Sambenedettese", a delicious fish soup with a distinctive taste of vinegar, chilli peppers and green tomatoes.