Mole Vanvitelliana, Ancona

The Mole Vanvitelliana, also known as the Lazzaretto, is one of Ancona's most remarkable buildings: a great pentagonal structure standing on an artificial island in the city's harbour, linked to the shore by three bridges. It was designed by Luigi Vanvitelli, the architect of the royal palace at Caserta, and built between 1733 and 1743 at the commission of Pope Clement XII, who had made Ancona a free port. Its original purpose was as a lazzaretto, a quarantine station where ships' crews and cargoes from across the Mediterranean could be isolated to guard the city against plague, while also serving as a defensive outwork for the harbour. The pentagonal plan encloses a broad central courtyard, with a small classical temple to Saint Roch, protector against plague, at its heart. After centuries of varied use, including as a military depot and a tobacco factory, the building has been restored as one of the city's principal cultural venues. It now hosts temporary art exhibitions, concerts, festivals, and an auditorium, and is home to the Museo Tattile Statale Omero, a state tactile museum founded for blind and partially sighted visitors but designed for everyone, where art can be explored by touch through casts of famous sculptures and original works. The site and courtyard are generally free to enter, and the Museo Omero is free, with a small charge for its design collection. Opening hours of the museum are seasonal, concentrated in the afternoons with weekend mornings; the wider site's access depends on the events calendar. The Mole lies along the harbour close to the Arco di Traiano and the cathedral, making the three easy to combine. Allow around an hour to an hour and a half.