(map) 
Every major Italian city has that “something” that attracts visitors year after year. Rome has its history. Milan has its fashion. Florence has its art. Venice has its canals and poop-squirting pigeons.
And Ancona? Even though some palazzi are still waiting to be rebuilt after WWII, even if this capital city of Le Marche is unquestionably spartan in some parts, and even though driving into the port-side of the city has you wondering whether the buildings were painted with the ugly brush… Ancona has its views.
Ancona has views that catapult you from your car, as you suddenly have an urgent need to take a picture. And even the pictures don’t do it justice. The city just happens to be located on a piece of land that juts out of the calf of the Italian boot straight into the Adriatic.
The Greeks who founded Ancona used their collective imaginations and christened the city Ankon, meaning elbow. Perhaps not the most creative name, but the “elbow” guarantees endless breathtaking views…
…part II coming soon!
- Contributed by Enrica Frulla, a marketing consultant and copywriter living in Le Marche.
I will miss the daily notebook during the summer months. You have provideda great daily treat to all of us with your coverage of our beautiful Italy with wonderful stories and corgeous pictures.
Nice photos of Acona,
Thank you,
Mario Di Crocco ( Sambuceto, Pescara)
Buone vacanze!
Ancona e` spettacolare.
CV
Buona Vacanza, but hurry back we will miss our daily tastes
of Italia .
Have a well deserved break. We’ll be looking forward to more tastes of Italy in September. :)
Most of the Italian families in Ridgefield Ct. came from Le Marche’.
Aldo Biagiotti, a noted citizen, wrote a book about their migration & contribution.
This town is blessed.
During the summer months, there are ferry boats that leave Ancona for the beautiful city of Split, Croatia. Many Italians go to Croatia for their summer vacations. The coastline is breathtaking with spectacular scenery and the sea is clear and clean. Quite different from the Adriatic side of Italy.
Please correct your English:
its last note – NOT it’s last note
Please, refer me to your citation of authority for the proposition that the Greeks “founded” Ancona. My understanding is that the Greeks hugged the “heel” of la penisola, i.e., Apulia, but did not go farther north on the Adriatic coast. The pickings in the Ionia sea and Magna Graecia were about all that the Greeks traders (and much later colonists, i.e., “founders”) could want; or manage.
Thank you for your attention.
The Anconetani also refer to the fact that this “elbow” allows them to be the only city in Italy where they can see both the sun rising and setting on water. Not sure if this is completely true but Ancona’s proximity to some of the most pristine beaches in the country, despite being a heavily industrial town, is very special.
Hello all,
thanks for the lovely comments. For Joseph: Ancona was founded by Greek colonists, the Dori Siracusani, in 387 b.c. This is why Ancona is also known as “la città Dorica”. http://www.comune.ancona.it/turismo/contesti/Turismo/servizi/servizi_turistici/14944_depliants.html
And, Megan, I myself have witnessed both the sunrise and sunset, in Ancona and from the hills of Senigallia as well. Very special indeed. Buon Ferragosto to all!
ENJOY A WELL-DESERVED VACATION. WE’LL SEE YOU WHEN YOU RETURN. WHAT A WONDERFUL SERVICE YOU ALL ARE PERFORMING.
SC
‘poop-squirting pigeons’? Honestly, I don’t appreciate your choice of words. Please keep it polite.
[...] all the views however, Ancona’s crowning jewel is the hard-to-miss Monte Conero, sitting just to the south like [...]