Meletti Coffee

For years it was home to the "Senate," a fellowship of the city's notables. King Victor Emmanuel visited in 1908 and 1910 to purchase Anisetta Meletti and decreed it "Supplier of the Royal Household." Mascagni would begin writing the opera "Lodoletta" here. Guttuso, at the end of the Second War, designed the magazine "L'Orsa Maggiore" there. Stuparich, Zandonai, Badoglio, Sartre, Hemingway and Trilussa passed through, who, gluttonous of Anisetta Meletti, wrote "Quante favole e sonetti m'ha ispirato la Meletti."

Located in the very central Piazza del Popolo, next to the Palazzo dei Capitani, it was inaugurated on the evening of May 18, 1907, at the behest of Silvio Meletti, the liquor industrialist known for the production of Anisetta Meletti, who two years earlier had taken over the building constructed between 1881 and 1884 to house the offices of the Post and Telegraph.

Thus, thanks to the work of engineer Enrico Cesari and painter-decorator Pio Nardini, an elegant Art Nouveau bar was born, characterized by the richness of the furnishings, the splendor of the ornaments and the refinement of the paintings that still contribute to the unique atmosphere of Caffè Meletti.

Because of "the coherence that binds it to the structures in an inseparable whole, because of its unity, having remained, except for a few minor variations, in its original state, because of the elegance of its lines and decoration that make it a rare document of Art Nouveau style in the Marche region, and because it is a preferential place of socio-cultural meeting that it has held in the past and continues to hold today, so much so that it is nicknamed the Senate," Caffè Meletti in 1981 was declared by the Ministry of Cultural and Environmental Heritage 'Local of Historical and Artistic Interest.

After a closure that jeopardized its continuity, in 1996 Caffè Meletti was purchased by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Ascoli Piceno, which returned it to the city in 1998 after careful conservative restoration work. Subsequent structural and technological upgrades completed in November 2011 restored the café and restaurant to its former prestige and charm.

The architecture of Caffè Meletti is as fascinating as its history. The building that houses the Café is, in its linearity, an element that fits with great elegance into the 16th-century setting of Piazza del Popolo, also bringing a delicate touch of color with its antique pink plastering.

On a trapezoidal plan, the main facade, in typical neoclassical style, is divided into three horizontal bands, demarcated by shaped cornices, corresponding to the building's three floors. On the ground floor, the four storefronts and the entrance are protected by a five-arched portico with vaults frescoed by Ascoli painter Giovanni Picca in 1883 with frescoes on the theme "Allusive Emblems of Postal Functions"; just above the string-course cornice supports a row of five windows surmounted by as many round lunettes (main floor), and finally a notched cornice serves as the base for the balustrade that delimits the wide terrace (top floor). In 1906 the frescoes were plastered over, and only the 1998 restoration brought the entire work to light.

The interior of the café traces the typical layout of a nineteenth-century Art Nouveau café and is organized into a space for standing food, a large space for seated food, and one for pastries. The inimitable atmosphere is protected by every detail of style and decor. From the ceiling frescos by Ascoli painter Pio Nardini to the wall sconces and chandeliers made of machined brass with frosted glass bulbs to the sofas upholstered in soft moss-green velvet, the round coffee tables with white Carrara marble tops on a machined cast-iron base, others painted by Milanese artist Giuseppe Moneta, the Thonet-type chairs with Vienna strawwork, the cast-iron columns with fruity capitals and the characteristic carved wooden spiral staircase. The latest renovations have worked on depth, opening the entrance from Via del Trivio, the functionality of the bar counter, and lighting thanks to Murano glass chandeliers.