Castignano Village

Built on the highest of five twin hills that rise between the upper Tesino valley and the head of the Chifenti torrent, surrounded by suggestive steep gullies, Castignano appears with its unmistakable profile: a pyramid-shaped town, supported by a colossal wall , dominated by a Romanesque tower with a soaring spire. From the square at the top of the village you can enjoy a magnificent panorama that ranges from the Conero to the Sibillini, to the Gran Sasso, to the Maiella, up to the sea. Castignano was a Farfense garrison in the medieval period and is considered one of the most particular and picturesque centers of the Piceno having kept the peculiarities of the medieval environment almost unchanged. The oldest evidence of its past is the "Stele di Castignano", found in its territory. It shows a Picene inscription dated VI century. BC, which constitutes one of the most valuable pieces of the Archaeological Museum of Ascoli Piceno, where it is kept. The historic center with its Romanesque churches, the medieval and Renaissance houses set against each other in a maze of narrow, winding alleys, looks like an open-air museum. Almost out of time, it preserves intact the colors and flavors of the past, the stories of nuns and friars, of soldiers and tyrants, of invaders and heroic struggles, of artists, artisans, but above all of the Templars. The Templars have operated in Castignano for many years since the town was the nodal transit point for pilgrims who moved from Rome to the ports of embarkation for the Holy Land. They erected the Church of Santa Maria del Borgo in the XII century which still has the tile with the TAU above the arch of a portal. This symbol of the cross, in use in the Middle Ages, was taken on by their powerful Military Order. The Templaria festival is dedicated to them, which takes place in August. Among the museums, the Sistine Museum of Sacred Art at the Church of San Pietro Apostolo, the Intercommunal Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art. Castignano is an important center for the production of typical Marche wines, produced by the local private cellars and by the Cantina Sociale such as: the "Rosso Piceno", the "Falerio dei colli Ascoli", "Templaria", the "Gramelot", the "Brandy di Uva ”, the“ Anise ”, the“ Mistrà ”,“ Spumanti ”and others.

Local food and wine

Green anise

Castignano Wine cellar