Forte Malatesta, Renaissance fort in Ascoli Piceno, Italy.

Forte Malatesta is a Renaissance fort on the left bank of the Castellano River in Ascoli Piceno, in the Marche region of central Italy. It was designed by the architect Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and is recognizable by its star-shaped layout, which was typical of military construction of that era.

The site held a Roman bath complex, the "terme del Lago", fed by a conduit from the Castel Trosino spring. Galeotto I Malatesta rebuilt a fort here in 1349, where he imprisoned Bishop Isacco Bindi; the Ascolani destroyed it in 1353. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger raised the present irregular star-shaped fortress between 1540 and 1543 for Pope Paul III Farnese, incorporating the deconsecrated church of Santa Maria del Lago as its keep.

Inside the fort, a museum displays objects from early medieval noble burials, including jewelry and weapons found in the surrounding region. Seeing these items up close gives a sense of how people in this area honored the dead centuries ago.

The fort stands by the Castellano stream near the Ponte di Cecco, the historic eastern entrance to Ascoli Piceno. The museum complex inside includes the Museo dell'Alto Medioevo and the Cinema & Territorio museum, plus temporary exhibition rooms. The Giuseppe Marinucci park in the moat displays works by the Ascoli artist. Allow time for both the fort and the museums.

The church of Santa Maria del Lago was deconsecrated and turned into the keep of the new fort, split into three levels, when Sangallo the Younger built it between 1540 and 1543 for Pope Paul III Farnese. Its walls were absorbed into the star-shaped plan, so the former place of worship survives as the fortress's central tower.