Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Italian central region of Marche. From Ancona you can get a ferry to
Patras in South Greece across the Adriatic Sea. You can also book an Ancona Ferry to the ports of
Igoumenitsa and
Split. The service is operated by
Anek Lines,
Minoan Lines and
Superfast Ferries.
Ancona is situated on the Adriatic Sea and is easily accessible by any means of transportation. It is well connected to Milan and Bologna, by the A1 and A14 motorways and to Rome by the S.S.76. You can reach the port of Ancona through the North and the South. Simply follow the Motorways to Ancona. Once you have arrived to the port, follow the signs to the exit "Ancona Centro". The city is located 210 km NE of Rome and 200 km SE of Bologna. It is also finely situated on and between the slopes of the two extremities of the promontory of Monte Astagno, Monte Conero and Monte Guasco, on which the Duomo stands. The latter is said to occupy the site of a temple of Venus, mentioned by Catullus and Juvenal as the tutelary deity of the place.
Ancona was founded from Syracuse about 390 BC. Its name is a modified transliteration of the Greek word for "elbow"; in fact, originally, the harbor to the east of the town was protected only by the promontory on the north, shaped like an elbow.
The main attractions of Ancona are the Cathedral church of S. Ciriaco, a fine Romanesque building in grey stone; the marble Arch of Trajan, one of the finest Roman monuments in the Marche, standing on a high podium approached by a wide flight of steps. There are also several fine late Gothic buildings (among them the churches of S. Agostino and S. Francesco) and an archaeological museum, which contains interesting pre-Roman objects from tombs in the district, and two Roman beds with fine decorations in ivory.
