Ancona

Ancona, capital of a province in Italy, is situated on a promontory of the Adriatic coast, 127 miles SE. of Ravenna by rail. The seat of a bishop, it contains (1891) 54,500 inhabitants (2500 Jews). Its harbour had become much silted up, but in 1887-90 was improved and deepened; while plans had been adopted by government for new docks, an arsenal, and separate dry-docks for the navy and mercantile marine. Its commerce is much less considerable than it once was, but it is still the most important seaport on the Adriatic between Venice and Brindisi. The manufactures are silk, ships' rigging, leather, tobacco, and soft soap; the exports (declining in recent years) are cream-of-tartar, lamb and goat skins, asphalt, bitumen, corn, hemp, coral, and silk. Since 1815, the old citadel was the only fortification until, recently, strong forts were erected on the neighbouring heights, and the citadel turned into a large depot for soldiers. A mole of 2000 feet in length, built by the Emperor Trajan, and a triumphal arch of the same emperor, are the most notable monuments of antiquity. One of the most venerable buildings is the cathedral of San Ciriaco, built in the 11th century, and possessing the oldest cupola in Italy. But the houses are in general mean, and the streets narrow. Ancona is supposed to have been founded about 380 B.C. by Syracusans, who had fled from the tyranny of Dionysius the Elder. It was destroyed by the Goths, rebuilt by Narses, and again destroyed by the Saracens in the 10th century. It afterwards became a republic; but in 1532 Pope Clement VII. annexed it to the States of the Church. In 1797 it was taken by the French; but in 1799 General Meunier was obliged to surrender it to the Russians and Austrians, after a long and gallant defence. In 1832 a French force took possession of the town and kept it in their hands till 1838, when both French and Austrians retired from the Papal States. In 1849 a revolutionary garrison in Ancona capitulated after enduring a siege by the Austrians of 25 days. In 1861 the flag of the kingdom of Italy waved over the ancient city.—The March of Ancona was the name applied to the territory lying between the Adriatic and the Apennines, from Tronto NW. to San Marino. Erected into an independent marquise under the Longobards, the district was a papal dependency from the 13th century, but passed into the hands of Victor-Emmanuel in 1860.