Piazza Arringo

Piazza Arringo is one of Ascoli Piceno's oldest monumental squares and remains a centre of civic and religious life. The cathedral, Baptistery of San Giovanni, Episcopal Palace and Palazzo dell'Arengo frame a space whose name recalls the popular assemblies once held there.

Why it matters

The square brings together religious institutions, civic government and museums. Its name derives from the arengo, the assembly of citizens that met here, according to tradition, beneath an elm. Recent archaeological work beneath the paving has revealed phases from the Roman period through the early Middle Ages, adding to the square's long civic history.

What to notice

The cathedral occupies the eastern side beside the Romanesque Baptistery of San Giovanni. The Episcopal Palace combines medieval and Renaissance fabric, including Palazzo Roverella and its corner mascaron. Across the square, the Palazzo dell'Arengo, also called the Palazzo Comunale, was rebuilt from the late seventeenth century through 1745 by Giuseppe and Lazzaro Giosafatti, working from a design modified after Giambattista Cavagna. Two medieval halls survive on its ground floor. The twin travertine fountains, installed in 1884, have bronze seahorses, fish, putti and masks; they originally flanked a monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, later moved to the public gardens.

Context and history

The square's political history is reflected in the buildings around it. The cathedral replaced a Roman public building; the Palazzo dell'Arengo incorporated medieval structures into a later seat of government, while the Episcopal Palace grew through additions in the fifteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Museums now occupy several of the surrounding palaces.

Work on underground services and paving revealed a large apsidal building with multiple phases and cocciopesto floors, as well as Lombard-period burials. These finds provide the first archaeological evidence of a Lombard presence in the city and are exhibited at the National Archaeological Museum.