The Colle dell’Annunziata (Annunziata Hill, previously known as Pelasgic Hill) and the park of the same name are located in the highest point of the town of Ascoli Piceno; they owe their name to the Church of Annunziata, which sits on the top of the hill. This area, considered Ascoli’s “green lung”, has always had a strategic role for the town: in past times several fortified structures were built on the hill, including the old cassero (castle keep), destroyed by Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo during the Piceni and Sabines Ages and rebuilt by the will of his son, Pompeo Magno, in the Roman Age. Nowadays, one can see the remains of the Fortezza Pia and those of the Roman substructures, the so-called Annunziata Grottoes. In 1927, in order to connect the city center (via Dino Angelini) to the hill, a long stair was built while, years later, the construction of the road leading up to the Fortress and the renovation of the square in front of the Church were carried out.