Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo, Renaissance palace in Piazza del Popolo, Ascoli Piceno, Italy.

Palazzo dei Capitani del Popolo is a Renaissance-front building occupying the entire eastern side of the central Piazza del Popolo, with three floors facing outward. The exterior shows large Guelph-cross windows and carefully cut stone, creating a unified appearance from three medieval structures merged into one.

The building took shape between the 13th and 14th centuries when the city joined three separate medieval houses together into one structure. This merger allowed craftspeople's guilds and city officials to share a common headquarters.

The palace is known as "a great book of stone" for more than thirty inscriptions, some with dates and heraldic arms, painted and carved by unknown artists and stonemasons on travertine blocks set into the inner and outer walls. They date from the 14th to the 17th century and record artists, notables, podestà, apostolic delegates and governors. Look for the epigraph to Ranuccio Farnese, legate of Ascoli in 1546, below the small south-east balcony.

The square is easy to reach on foot, with the building itself clearly visible dominating the center, though interior access may be limited depending on activities. Temporary exhibitions and events held regularly inside provide opportunities to see the interior spaces and halls.

On Christmas night in 1535, the building suffered a fire deliberately set by governor Giovan Battista Quieti to remove political enemies. This violent incident left a dark mark in the administrative history of the city.