Ancona

Italian city, naval base and ferry port; capital of Marche region, situated on the Adriatic Sea 140 km/87 mi northeast of Rome; population (2001) 100,500. There are shipbuilding, chemical, fishing, and engineering industries here. Ancona has a Romanesque cathedral and a former palace of the popes.

Ancona's harbour is one of the best on the Adriatic; it has a busy port trade, and has been used as a naval base since the 19th century.

Features Ancona has a triumphal arch and a mole dating from the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan, and many splendid medieval buildings. The latter include the 11th–13th-century church of Santa Maria della Piazza and the Palazzo del Comune (partly 13th century), and the Romanesque-Byzantine archiepiscopal cathedral (11th–13th centuries).

History The town was founded around 390 BC by refugees from Syracuse. It suffered much damage at the hand of the Goths and the Saracens. The town was occupied by the French in 1797 and 1832, and by the Austrians in 1849. During both world wars it was heavily bombarded.

Ancona

Province of eastern Italy in central Le Marche region; capital Ancona; area 1,940 sq km/749 sq mi; population (2000 est) 444,100.