The population of the city of Fermo is less than 40,000 people but in spite of the small size, the citizens of Fermo have done quite a lot to make the city an interesting place to visit. We’ve been pleasantly surprised!
On Sunday we took two tours, both led by excellent guides – each one 30 minutes in length. The first was of the Teatro Dell’Aquilla. The theater is well-supported by local businesses and citizens of the town. They have a great performance series, including a performance of MacBeth this November (2022). It’s a gorgeous space with box seats and a beautiful fresco on the ceiling.
Next, we toured the Roman Cisterns, a large underground complex dated to First Century B.C. It’s made up of 30 connected rooms. Our guide gave a complicated explanation of how the water was collected and distributed.
We visited the Metropolitan Cathedral which stands at the highest point of the city. There is a park surrounding the Cathedral and stunning views of the sea and the hillsides below.
For anyone thinking about a visit to Fermo, there is a slick website (HERE) with lots of excellent info including history of the city, theater schedules and more!
A few downsides to visiting this city are the hilly landscape – challenging for bad hips and knees; if driving, the streets are narrow and parking scarce; and there aren’t many decent hotels in the city center. Still, we’re glad we visited and three days was just about right with still enough time to include a day trip to the Medieval village of Torre di Palme and lunch by the Adriatic Sea at the pleasant town of Porto San Georgio which is nearby and below Fermo.
We left Fermo this morning and drove about an hour to our next stop, Ascoli Piceno. It’s pleasant here and we’ve added a night to our stay at Albergo Sant’Emidio, which will make this a four-night stay.
Below is the Piazza del Popolo! We’re ready to explore this city and anxious to try the famous olive all’ascolana – fat green olives pitted, stuffed, breaded and deep-fried!
