Ascoli Piceno

A brief Intro
Ascoli Piceno is a province capital in the Central part of Italy, in Marche region, it has 55,000 inhabitants ca. and about 150,000 with the suburbs. Ascoli was founded by an Italic population (Piceni) several centuries before Rome's founding on the important Via Salaria (Salaria Road) which connected Latium with the salt production area on the Adriatic coast. During the Middle Ages it was ravaged by the Ostrogoths and then by the Lombards of King Faroald (578). In 1189 a free republican municipality was established but internal strife led dramatically to the demise of civic values and freedom and to unfortunate ventures against neighboring enemies. This uncertain situation opened the path to foreign dictatorships, like those of Galeotto Malatesta (14th century), initially called as a mercenary (condottiero) in the war against Fermo, and Francesco Sforza.The latter was ousted in 1482, but Ascoli was compelled to submit again to the Papal suzerainty. In 1860 it was annexed together with Marche and Umbria in the Kingdom of Italy.

CS Community
In July 2008 there are more than 20 CouchSurfers and there's an active local hospitality (both CS and HC) community. Local meetings are usually held unformally once or more times a week in presence of guests of the local members. Typical activities include meeting in Piazza del Popolo to drink Aperitivo, the local cocktail and talk, pizza meetings or dinners at hosts' houses. Every year we try to organize huge meetings involving members from all over the world!!! Regional meetings are held every month here or nearby!!! We cooperate a lot with nearby cs community of Pescara

Guides
Giampiero and the other CS members as Cristina, Samanta, Domenico and Gabriele are active local CouchSurfers who, if not too busy with other activities, will be glad to show you around the city for a bit, have a pizza or a spritz.

Places to see
A trip in history The Piceno capital Ausculum romana The Longobards The city's defenses The hundred towers Humanism and the travertine that speaks Crivelli and his School The Baroque Era Eclecticism The places of power Piazza del Popolo ( People Square ) Piazza Arringo ( Arringo Square ) Places of the spirit S. Emidio The Romanesque churches The Franciscan movement Dominicans and Augustinians Marian devotion The places of culture The theaters of the city Museums and libraries Places of pleasure Caffè Meletti Historical bar in Liberty Style Quintana Medieval knightly tournament, please have a look here Quintana

Italian Adriatic Surfing Network
Ascoli is included in Adriatic Surfing Network that is a network of cs members who live on the eastern cost of Italy with the aim to help and host those travellers who want to discover the eastern part of Italy.

Transport
To reach your host, you just need to reach train station where he/she will pick u up. Ascoli transportation system runs by Start is based on several bus lines that usually run from 7 till 21. A ticket for a single ride costs 0,75€.

Anyway u can have a tour of the city without using the bus because distances are short and you can see better the city. Ascoli is very close to the beaches that u can reach by train or bus in 40 minutes. Roma is connected by bus and u can be there in 3 hrs and you can visit Perugia and Assisi by bus too around 3 hrs