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Visit Rome following 8 XVIIIth century itineraries XVIIIth century Rome in the 10 Books of Giuseppe Vasi - Le Magnificenze di Roma Antica e Moderna The Grand View of Rome by G. Vasi The Environs of Rome: Frascati, Tivoli, Albano and other small towns near Rome A 1781 map of Rome by G. Vasi An 1852 map of Rome by P. Letarouilly Rome seen by a 1905 armchair traveller in the paintings by Alberto Pisa The 14 historical districts of Rome An abridged history of Rome How to spend a peaceful day in Rome Baroque sculptors and their works The coats of arms of the popes in the monuments of Rome Pages on a specific pope Pages complementing the itineraries and the views by Giuseppe Vasi Walks in the Roman countryside and in other towns of Latium following Ferdinand Gregorovius A Directory of links to the Churches of Rome A Directory of links to the Palaces and Villas of Rome A Directory of links to the Other Monuments of Rome A Directory of Baroque Architects with links to their works A Directory of links to Monuments of Ancient Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Medieval Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Renaissance A Directory of links to Monuments of the Late Renaissance A list of the most noteworthy Roman Families Directories of fountains, obelisks, museums, etc. Books and guides used for developing this web site An illustrated Glossary of Art Terms Venice and the Levant Roman recollections in Florence A list of Italian towns shown in this web site Venetian Fortresses in Greece Vienna seen by an Italian XVIIIth century traveller A list of foreign towns shown in this web site
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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.

PETRA IN ASCOLI

Ascoli Piceno

Ascoli Piceno is a town in the Marche region on the Adriatic side of the peninsula.
Ascoli is a jewel of early Renaissance and retains a lot of interesting churches, buildings and one of the nicest piazzas (Piazza del Popolo) you can see in Italy.
After the XVIth century however Ascoli entered a long period of decadence.
The popes ruled Ascoli through a cardinal and so the town with a few papal coats of arms has an impressive number of coats of arms of the cardinals to whom its administration was delegated (so called Cardinal (de)Legato).
Today it is a rich and well kept town, with very good restaurants.

S. Emidio alle Grotte


Overview of S. Emidio alle Grotte


Top part of the façade

The only important church of the XVIII century in Ascoli is however very interesting. Like the temples of Petra in Jordan, this church comes out of the rock with an impressive impact.
The church is built on the catacombs of early Christian worshippers and it reminds us of S. Maria della Pace by Pietro da Cortona in Rome. The reason for building it was the protection of S. Emidio during an earthquake in 1703 and it was completed in 1721.
During this long period the Pope was Clemens XI (Giovanni Francesco Albani), a man of deep culture and a protector of the arts. To learn more about him see

The Coats of Arms

The coat of arms of the PopeThe

Two large coats of arms play a major role in the overall design of the façade. The coat of arms of the cardinal (picture above right), although put at a lower, subordinate level has nothing to envy in the papal one. Overall I believe that the artist did a better job on this one!

Angels


Very often the coat of arms of the Pope hosts the head of a young angel (a Putto) in the upper part. Here this theme is developed and we see two children playing with a result of great freshness and again overall I prefer the putti of the cardinal's coat of arms.



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