Ascoli Piceno · Go deeper
Where to live
Ascoli gathers its glowing travertine centre in a bend where two rivers meet, and its everyday residential districts spread out around and across the water. So the choice is the classic one: live inside the stone-carved old town, or in the calmer, cheaper quarters beyond it. Neither choice is wrong, and the two live nothing alike.
The travertine historic centre
Centro Storico
most sought-afterOne of the most beautiful town centres in Italy, an entire medieval and Renaissance city carved from creamy travertine, gathered around the sublime Piazza del Popolo and the cathedral square of Piazza Arringo, threaded with old towers and the Roman grid beneath. It's a joy to live in and to walk, alive with real Italian life, and the most sought-after address. The trade is that it's the priciest part of an affordable city, with the usual old-town small apartments and car limits.
Best for: those who want to live inside the travertine old town, among the porticoes and towers
Learn more about the historic heart
Ascoli is a city carved from a single stone. After the Romans sacked it in the Social War around 90 BC, the town was rebuilt in travertine, the warm, creamy limestone from the local quarries, and it has been building in that same glowing stone ever since, which is why the whole centre shares one honeyed harmony. Beneath it survives the Roman grid of Asculum, the old Cardo and Decumanus still shaping the streets, and at its heart lies the Piazza del Popolo, a Renaissance masterpiece of travertine porticoes where the Caffè Meletti has poured its anise liqueur since 1907.
In the Middle Ages Ascoli bristled with towers, noble families raised so many stone towers that it was called the city of a hundred, and dozens still stand. And it keeps its old rivalries alive: twice a year the six sestieri, the historic districts, contest the Quintana, a full-costume medieval joust in which knights charge a mannequin Saracen, watched by a whole town in fifteenth-century dress. Travertine, towers, and a living pageant: Ascoli is one of Italy’s great unsung historic cities.
The districts around it
The near quarters (Porta Maggiore, Campo Parignano & around the walls)
mid, practical valueThe lived-in quarters just outside the historic core, along the rivers and around the old gates: practical, well-connected, and cheaper than inside the walls, with everyday shops and an easy walk into the centre. Less monumental but convenient, this is where a lot of everyday Ascoli lives, close to the beauty without the old-town premium.
Best for: those wanting value and convenience a short walk from the historic centre
Monticelli & the outer districts
mid, family valueThe more modern residential districts spreading out from the town, Monticelli and the outer quarters up the hillsides and along the valley, with newer housing, gardens, more space, and the lowest prices, in exchange for a bus or drive into the centre. Calm, green, and family-friendly, this is where space and value are easiest to find. You'll want a car out here.
Best for: families and residents wanting space, gardens, and value on the town's edges
Rough tiers are indicative and move with the market, and the local market is small. Check current listings on Immobiliare ›