ASCOLI AND THE SIBILLINI MOUNTAINS – BETWEEN CULTURE, ART AND LANDSCAPE BEAUTIES

Arrive in Ascoli Piceno, visit of the historic center of the city, considered one of the most beautiful if Italy because of its artistic and architectural richness. Ascoli is also known as the city of a hundred towers, for the countless noble and bell towers. The focus is Piazza del Popolo in Renaissance style, literally framed by a loggia with 59 arches and palazzetti with arcades and battlements. All the paving is in travertine slabs that, after the rain, make a suggestive mirror effect. On the square overlook the most important buildings: the Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo, who dates back XIII century and today seat of the City Hall, the historic Caffè Meletti in Art Nouveau style, and the Church of San Francesco, which is leaning against the Loggia of the Merchants, elegant construction of 1513. Another elegant urban space is Piazza Arringo, the oldest of Ascoli, where there are very interesting buildings: the Baptistery of San Giovanni, the Cathedral of Sant’Emidio; the Bishop’s Palace, the Palace Arengo, seat of the Pinacoteca Civica and some municipal offices. On the opposite side of the Piazza you recognize the seventeenth-century facade of Palazzo Panichi, home of the State Archaeological Museum. Wine tasting at the winery Velenosi, with tasting of a local specialty. Hotel accommodation for dinner and overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel, departure to the “Lago di Pilato”, a lake located on the Mount Vettore, in the National Park of the Sibillini, 1,941 meters high, place of mysteries and legends. Also known as “the lake with the glasses”, because of its particular shape, this basin is the only natural lake of the Marche and one of the few alpine glacial lakes on the Apennines. The lake houses two very particular species the Chirocefalo del Marchesoni, a small red crustacean measuring 9-12 mm that swims with the abdomen facing the top,

and a very small insect called ditiscide, an aquatic beetle. In the popular tradition the lake was and is considered a magical and mysterious place. In fact, it owes its name to a legend according to which in its waters was thrown the body of Pontius Pilate condemned to death by Tiberius. The penalty was not only this, but also the failure to bury his corpse. His corpse, carried by a chariot of buffaloes left free to roam without a destination, would in fact fall into the lake, since then, has been considered a dark place inhabited by witches and fortune tellers. Enough to force the religious authorities of the time to prohibit its access and to put a gallows, at the beginning of the valley, as a warning. Packed lunch during the excursion.

Breakfast at the hotel, transfer to Castelluccio, a village at the foot of the Sibillini Mountains, from where we can admire the beautiful flowering of lentils in the plain below. A thousand shades make up the so-called Flowering of Castelluccio. A rainbow that goes from red to yellow, up to the most intense purple, made of lentils, poppies, violets, clovers and daffodils and many other varieties that make it special. Lunch in the restaurant. In the afternoon free visit of Norcia, to discover this beautiful town of Roman origin located between the Val Nerina and the Sibillini Mountains. The monumental artistic fulcrum of the city certainly revolves around its central square where are the main buildings which unfortunately were damaged with the earthquake of 2016. End of services.