Ascoli Satriano

For other places with the same name, seeAsculum.

Ascoli Satriano Àsculë(Neapolitan)
Comune
Comune di Ascoli Satriano
Coat of arms
Location of Ascoli Satriano
Ascoli Satriano Location of Ascoli Satriano in Italy Ascoli Satriano Ascoli Satriano (Apulia)
Coordinates:41°12′56″N15°33′28″E
Country	Italy
Region	Apulia
Province	Foggia(FG)
Frazioni	San Carlo
Government
• Mayor	Vincenzo Sarcone
Area
• Total	333.68 km2(128.83 sq mi)
Elevation	393 m (1,289 ft)
Population (30 April 2017)
• Total	6,188
• Density	19/km2(48/sq mi)
Demonym	Ascolani
Time zone	UTC+1(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2(CEST)
Postal code	71022
Dialing code	0885
Patron saint	San Potito
Saint day	January 14
Website	Official website

Polychrome marble carving (4th century BC) of twogriffinsdevouring a deer. Formerly at theGetty Museum,now at TheMuseum Center of Ascoli Satriano.

Church of San Rocco.

Ascoli Satriano(Italian:[ˈaskolisatriˈaːno];Foggiano:Àsculë) is a town andcomunein theprovince of Foggiain theApuliaregion of southeastItaly.It is located on the edge of a large plain in Northern Apulia known as theTavoliere delle Puglie.

History

The earliest human presence in the area of Ascoli Satriano dates from around the 9th century BC, according to archaeological evidence, and similar dated earthworks are common in the area.It was a small village eventually on a branch of theAppian WayinApulia,South EastItaly.

Asculumwas a town of theDauniorSatriani,a warlike tribe. Two battles were fought there. Asculum gave effective help to the Romans at the firstBattle of Asculumin 279 BC,which was the first of KingPyrrhus of Epirus'sPyrrhic victoryagainst theRoman Republicduring thePyrrhic War.This was followed by theBattle of Asculum (209 BC),during theSecond Punic War,in whichHannibaldefeated a Roman army commanded byMarcus Claudius Marcellusin an indecisive battle.

TheBattle of Canusiumalso took place nearby. In theSocial Warthe city took the Italian side against Rome, and the end of that war, at theBattle of Asculum (89 BC),the victorious Romans besieged the town, starved it to surrender, executed the adult male prisoners by flogging and decapitation, and burned the town. Those noncombatants who survived were left to wander without support. The Roman general responsible,Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo,gained the nicknameCarnifex( "Butcher" ). LaterSullaestablished a military colony there.

In the Roman period it became a small cluster of habitations in a wider network of scattered villas. Under theRoman Empirethe economy was operated by slave labour and focused on grain cultivation.The large luxurious villa at Faragola was typical of alatifundium.

As theWestern Roman Empirebegan to collapse in the fourth and fifth centuries, many of the surrounding farms were abandoned with a retraction of cultivation and a re-growth of woodlands.In the mid-9th century theSaracensrazed the city. In 1040 it rebelled against theByzantinesand, the following year, a decisive battle was fought nearby which granted theNormanscontrol over southernItaly.Anearthquakein 1456 totally destroyed Ascoli Satriano, and forced relocation of the surviving inhabitants to the site of the current town. Re-growth of the town however was interrupted by periodic outbreaks ofplagueandtyphusinto the early 19th Century.

From the end of the nineteenth century the Ascoli Satriano was affected by increasing emigration to the Americas, reaching a peak between 1903 and 1914, stopping during the periods of theFirst World WarandItalian fascism.After thebombing of Foggiain 1943, Ascoli Satriano was freed by British and American forces.

Ascoli Satriano was mentioned by the Irish writerJames Joycein his novelUlysses.

After the Second World War, Ascoli Satriano, close to Cerignola, was the center of significant labor struggles againstlandlordism,sharecroppingand low wages, and strikes, demonstrations and land occupations became frequent. Trade unionists and politicians made passionate speeches to organize to support the demands of the working classes in Piazza Cecco d'Ascoli (today Piazza Giovanni Paolo II).

Main sights

• The Romanesque-Gothic Cathedral (12th century)
• Church of St. John the Baptist (12th century)
• Church of theIncoronata(15th century)
• TheMuseum Centre of Ascoli Satrianohouses theMarbles of Ascoli Satriano,a set of marble artifacts from the 4th century BC believed to been taken from a tomb of an elite prince of the region.
• Roman villa Faragola

People

• Biagio Ciotto,American politician.
• Michele Placido,actor and film director

External links

• The Museum Center of Ascoli SatrianoArchived2019-01-24 at theWayback Machine(in Italian)
• A late Roman villa at Faragola (Ascoli Satriano), ITALYDipartimento di Scienze Umane, Area di archeologia - Università degli Studi di Foggia.