Ancona

Ancona (IPA: /anˈko(ː)na/; from Greek: Ἀγκών - Angon) is a city and a seaport in the Marche, a region of central Italy, population 101,909 (2005). Ancona is situated on the Adriatic Sea and is the center of the province of Ancona and the capital of the region. The city is located 280 km northeast of Rome and 200 km southeast of Bologna. The town is finely situated on and between the slopes of the two extremities of the promontory of Monte Conero,... more

Ancona (IPA: /anˈko(ː)na/; from Greek: Ἀγκών - Angon) is a city and a seaport in the Marche, a region of central Italy, population 101,909 (2005). Ancona is situated on the Adriatic Sea and is the center of the province of Ancona and the capital of the region. The city is located 280 km northeast of Rome and 200 km southeast of Bologna. The town is finely situated on and between the slopes of the two extremities of the promontory of Monte Conero, Monte Astagno, occupied by the citadel, and Monte Guasco, on which the Duomo stands (150 m). The latter, dedicated to St Judas Cyriacus, is said to occupy the site of a temple of Venus, who is mentioned by Catullus and Juvenal as the tutelary deity of the place. Ancona was founded by settlers from Syracuse about 387 BC, who gave it its name: Ancona is a very slightly modified transliteration of the Greek Αγκων, meaning "elbow"; the harbor to the east of the town was originally protected only by the promontory on the north, shaped like an... less