A detailed visit to Ascoli Piceno cannot be totally omitted by both the attentive and curious inhabitant of the Marches and the tourist who comes to spend his holidays in the southern part of the coast or in the area of Teramo. The tour will without a doubt turn out to be satisfying and sur­prising. The town can easily be reached from the coast and from the mountains through the old "Via Salaria" or its more convenient parallel roads. Ascoli, one of Piceno's centers, was a very important and mag­nificent town in Roman times and during the Middle Ages. Its town-planning ("inter omnia" - rivers Tronto and Castellano -as it was called by the Romans) develops as a weft of parallel and orthogonal roads that makes the historical centre of the town the most beautiful open museum of Roman and Medieval archi­tecture in the Marches. You should start the visit to the town prepared to catch the cultu­ral synthesis between the Roman spirit and the Christian faith. The functionality and the magnificence of Roman architecture can be recognized in the great defenses and entrances to the oppidum: Porta Gemina - one-arch bridge (C. Da Solesta), the magnificent support structures of Annunziata, the ruins of the theatre and some remains, which widely testify Roman and pre-Roman life, kept in the Civic museum. Thanks to the protection of Rome, Christianity comes to light, spreads out and reveals itself, deeply influencing the feelings and the lives of the inhabitants: religious orders and confrater­nities left the marks of their ancient presence during the centu­ries and, particularly, during the Middle Ages. The main street, "Corso Mazzini", is in the historic centre of the town and at the junction of Malta street leads to the centre of the old settlement: Piazza del Popolo where civil (Palazzo del Popolo. Loggia dei Mercanti) and religious (The Gothic Church of San Francesco with big and small cloisters) lives unite and syn­thesize.

History

To the north of the town, outside and around the centre, there are many churches such as Santa Maria inter Vineas, San Vicenzo e Anastasio and San Pietro Martire. To the south there are Sant'Agostino, San Venanzio, Santa Maria della Carita. During the centuries the political-religious centre "moved" to­wards the south, in a direction parallel to that of Corso Mazzini, following the expansion of the town during the years: Arringo Square, the Cathedral, the Arcivescovado and the Palazzo Comunale. An ideal link between Ancient times and the middle Ages is the Battistero - with its foundations and structures of the 6^th century and its facade in the elegant Romanesque style -where the blood of martyrs signed the birth of a great Christian community.

The best part of the historical culture of Ascoli may be found in its centre: the Library, the Picture-Gallery and the Diocesan mu­seum. Entering the Cathedral - which has been modified during the ag­es - if is possible to see a Romanesque structure. In the crypt we meet the heart of the spirituality of this town: Sant'Emidio's worship, whose mortal remains, kept in a Romanesque sarcoph­agus, are venerated at the altar. Young Emidio from Treviri - we only have traditional sources - escaped martyrdom thanks to an earthquake that caused the death of his persecutors and execu­tioners. He came to Italy and Pope Marcello appointed him as Bishop of Ascoli. He preached and contributed to the diffusion of the Christian faith: he also converted Polisia, the Roman Prefect's daughter. He was betrayed and condemned to martyr­dom by decapitation.

A writer of the 18^th century narrated with these words the won­derful miracle that followed: "Egli raccolto il capo con Ie sue mani cammino in tal guisa la terza parte di un miglio finche, giunto alle grotte, ivi entrato, riposo nel Signore" (He picked up his head with his own hands and walked in this way for one third of a mile. Then, once he reached the caves, he entered and rested in the name of the Lord).

Let us follow in the Saint's footsteps towards that place; we cross the river Tronto in a northwest direction: then, after bend­ing among the rocks, we suddenly come across the magnificent Church of Sant'Emidio alle Grotte. Giuseppe Giosafatti, an architect of the 18"' century, built a small temple leaning against the rocks. The church has a curvilinear colonnade and a half-dome in the Baroque style. On the whole the rocks seem to mod­ify themselves, changing their shapes. The church has three small aisles. Behind the altar it is still possible to find an irregu­larly shaped apse. It is made of living rock, which, once, limited the room of the main cave. On the left side of the homonymous aisle there are two small entrances: one leads to a tunnel that was probably dug to reach the catacombs - as it has been as­sumed by some archaeologists - the other one leads to the room where the tomb of the Saint was originally kept. Leaving Sant'Emidio alle Grotte, where faith, arts and culture fuse together, it is worth making some further reflections in or­der to recover the sense of history.