The first World War saw Ancona in the front line, not just because of the patriotic spirit of her soldier sons, but also because of the bombardment which the city suffered on the morning of the 24 May 1915, at the hands of the Austro-Hungarian fleet. Twenty-four warships, lined up behind Cardeto and in front of the port, opened fire killing and wounding unarmed citizens. The Cathedral of San Ciriaco itself was seriously damaged by eight shells.

The city did not belie its traditions of heroism; and it was from its port that two MTBs, under their commanders Rizzo and Aonzo, left to torpedo the Austrian battleship Santo Stefano (10 June 1918). As many as seven hundred Anconans fell in the war of 1915-1918. At Passetto, mindful and grateful, the city dedicated to the memory of the Fallen one of the finest monuments in Italy, the work of architect and fellow-citizen Guido Cirilli. Today, Ancona has spread beyond the old city walls, which have been demolished, and stretches along the " Piana degli Orti " (the plain of the vegetable gardens), which has been transformed into a functional and elegant quarter with the glamorous Viale della Vittoria. Two monumental palazzi mark the beginning of the avenue, the Palazzo delle Poste by Cirilli, with its reference to aesthetic modules by Sacconi, and the building designed by the architect Amos Luchetti Gentiloni, the current Palazzo del Popolo, headquarters of the City Council.

The Second World War produced immense damage to the city. Aerial and naval bombardment caused the destruction of entire quarters and the deaths of large numbers of citizens. Anconans made a notable contribution to the partisan struggle in the Resistance period. The city was in anguish, exhausted and tormented. Scarcely four thousand people remained in the disjointed buildings, under the terror of the constant danger of death. The city's sufferings won it a gold medal for civil valour.

Then came the 1960s. The city grew and developed - notwithstanding the 1972 earthquake and the great landslides of 1982. The old centre has been restored and the new quarters have the air of a European city. The University is no less thriving. The third millennium has begun.