
Super stone: Ascoli Piceno's Piazza del Popolo is entirely made from travertine.

Bright night: In the evenings, it shimmers like a mirage.

Stone walled: The city is surrounded by hills, some of which contain travertine.

Ancient origins: The remains of the Roman theater, made of travertine.

Dolce vita: Life revolves around the fountain in Piazza Arringo.

Water resistant: Ascoli's baptistery is one of Italy's finest Romanesque buildings.

Better with age: Travertine is soft when first cut, but hardens to a highly resistant stone.

Step back in time: A Roman bridge is still one of the routes into Ascoli.

Believe your eyes: Giuliano Giuliani's travertine sculptures appear to turn the stone paper-soft.

True religion: The 13th-century church of San Gregorio Magno is built from a Roman temple.

Venetian Gothic: The town art gallery has works by Carlo Crivelli, who came from Venice to Ascoli.

Mini Manhattan: Ascoli is known as the town of 100 towers.

Grand designs: The Pinacoteca (art gallery) is housed in the 13th-century comune, or local authority building.

Nouveau riche: Everyone from Simone de Beauvoir to Ernest Hemingway has drunk at Caffe Meletti.

Earthquake zone: Locals think the travertine is one of the reasons Ascoli was protected from the 2016 that destroyed nearby Amatrice (pictured)