ANCONA, a maritime city of Italy, in the States of the Church, and capital of a delegation of the same name. It is pleasantly situated on the shores of the Adriatic, occupying a slope between two hills, on one of which stands a cathedral, and on the other a citadel; but the streets are generally narrow and irregular. It possesses some fine buildings, such as the exchange, town-house, and lazaretto; is the seat of a bishop, has a court of appeal, and a public library of nearly 10,000 volumes. Its port, which is the best on the Adriatic, is defended by several forts, and protected by two moles. A magnificent triumphal arch of white marble adorns the ancient mole. It was erected in honour of the emperor Trajan, who greatly embellished the city, and built this mole. An arch, dedicated to pope Benedict XIV. decorates the new mole, which has at its extremity a lighthouse with a revolving light. The principal manufactures of Ancona are silk, sail-cloth, paper, leather, and wax candles; the exports are corn, wool, wax, bacon, and tallow; and the imports consist of colonial goods, drugs, and metals. Ancona has been a free port since 1732. The number of vessels that entered its port in 1842 was 1522, with an aggregate burthen of 109,813 tons. It has communication by steam with Trieste, Corfu, Patras, Syra, Athens, Smyrna, Constantinople, and Alexandria. Pop. 32,000, including many Greeks, and about 5000 Jews. Long. 13. 30. 35. E. Lat. 43. 37. 42. N.
This city was founded about B. C. 380 by Greek colonists, who had fled from Syracuse to escape the tyranny of the elder Dionysius. It rose rapidly into importance, and became celebrated for its purple dye. The exact time of its subjection to the Romans is uncertain; but it was taken possession of by Cæsar immediately after he crossed the Rubicon. Of its celebrated temple of Venus no traces remain, but it is supposed to have occupied the site of the present cathedral. In the middle ages it was an independent republic, and continued such until 1530, when Pope Clement VII. took possession of the town, and built the citadel under the pretext of defending it against the Turks. In 1798 Ancona was taken by the French, and in the following year it surrendered to the combined forces of the Austrians, Russians, and Turks, after a long and gallant resistance, under the direction of General Meunier. The French captured it a second time in 1801; but in the following year restored it to the Pope.
It afterwards formed part of the kingdom of Italy, till 1814, when it was again united to the papal dominions. In 1832 a party of French landed unexpectedly and took possession of the citadel, which they refused to evacuate so long as any Austrian troops remained within the Papal States; and this demand having been complied with, the French troops withdrew in 1838.