 24 km west of Ascoli Piceno, you will find, resting on a hill, the fascinating medieval town of Castignano, shaped like a pyramid, supported by an impressive wall with thirteen arcades, and encircled by a host of deep dramatic gullies. Its notable Romanesque tower stretches towards the sky and overlooks the surrounding valleys and mountains as far as the sea.
Once on the ancient trail of the Crusaders, there is evidence linking Castignano and the Templars: the T (TAU) sculpted on the portals of the church S.Maria del Borgo symbolizing the Order of the Templars, the longest alley in the village called Via Templari, and as legend has it a whole army of Templars along with their treasure allegedly is buried somewhere in the vicinity. The village celebrates this legacy with its Templaria summer festival.
The countryside of nearby Rotella, a village at the foot of luxuriant Mount Ascensione, is also worth visiting especially in autumn since it provides travellers with the quite unusual attraction of its springs that intermittently discharge jets of mud and salty water.
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