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CITY OF ANCONA Surface: kmq 124,6 Population: 100.410 inhabitants Geographical localization A chief town of Marche region, situated at the centre of the Adriatic coast and, thanks to its peculiar “elbow” shape jutting out onto the sea, it is the only town on the entire coast to see the sun rise and set over the sea. Main landscape patterns The landscape is characterized by sandy coastal areas (North of the port of Ancona) and the rocky beach Passetto famous for its grottos dug out of the cliff by fishermen (900 meters extended). Across the countryside of gentle hills and farmed fields, the green promontory of Mount Conero (approximately 600 meters) can be reached. The landscape is consisting of the axis of the coastal-hill system formed, from east to west, by the hills of the Cardeto, the Cappuccini and the Guasco. Main historical steps The name of the town originates from the Greek word “Ankon”, which in fact means “elbow”, and was conceived by the first Greek sailors who docked in this natural harbour at the foot of Guasco Hill. An ancient elbow, preistoric even, that boasts settlements of the Bronze Age dating back to the second millennium BC and that preserves in its museums the evidence of the Picenes civilisation from the Iron Age. In 387 BC, a colony of Siracusans, of Doric descent, settled in the town building monuments and walls around it in blocks of sand stone. Allied with the Romans in the battle of Sentinum against the Sannites, Etruscans and Gauls, Ancona entered the Roman orbit after the year 295 BC, becoming one of its colonies. Under the rule of Emperor Trajan (2nd Century AD), the strategic importance of the town grew considerably. Trajan developed the port in line with his “Dacian campaigns”, aiming to use Ancona as a bridge with the Orient. In honour of this emperor, the Arch was erected on the mole attributed to Apollodorus of Damascus (115 AD). Destroyed by the Saracens in the year 839, Ancona was organised around the Eleventh Century into an independent commune, developing maritime commerce with the East and constructing prestigious monuments: the Cathedral of St. Ciriaco, the Senate house and the church of Santa Maria della Piazza. In 1167 and 1174, Ancona withstood the assaults of Frederick Barbarossa (Red Beard) and his Chancellor, Cristiano di Magonza. From the 14th to 17th Century, Ancona experienced the most prosperous and outstanding period of its history, adding to the urban fabric with remarkable monuments. An important town belonging to the Papal State, Ancona underwent a considerable economic and demographic decline from the mid 17th to the 18th Century. It regained its splendour when it was declared a free port by Pope ClementXII, who instructed the architect Luigi Vanvitelli in 1732 to build the impressive Lazzaretto, now a symbol of the cultural rebirth of the town. Ancona played an important part in the patriotic unrest of the Risorgimento and, after the battle of Castelfidardo in 1860, the town became part of the Kingdom of Italy. Considerably damaged during World War I and most of all by the terrible bombings in 1943 and 1944, the town lost the majority of its historical districts situated arround the port, on Guasco, Astagno and Cappuccini Hills. The urban structures of the city were seriously damaged (and heavily characterized in their future evolution) also by a powerful earthquake (1982) and a very large landslide, that interested in 1982 almost the whole north part of the city. As a result of the geopolitical changes of the last ten years, Ancona has remarkably expanded, thanks to its location in the centre of the Adriatic.