# Ancona: a working ferry port with a museum in it

> Ancona's port moved 817,627 passengers in 2025, 12% fewer than in 2024. Ferry lines to Greece, Croatia and Albania, and a museum you touch.

URL: https://myitalia.it/towns/ancona
Last updated: 2026-09-02

Ancona's port counted 817,627 passengers in 2025, 739,399 of them on ferries and 78,228 off cruise ships, 12% down on the 927,415 of 2024, and almost everything worth seeing in the city was built because of that harbor.

## The port is the reason the city is here

Passenger traffic fell to 817,627 in 2025 from 927,415 in 2024, a drop of 12%. In the same year the port handled 9.6 million tonnes of freight and 154,868 TEU of containers.

Read those two lines together and you know what kind of place you are arriving in. Ancona is a commercial harbor that also takes passengers, so the walk from the terminal passes cranes and lorry queues.

## Where the boats actually go

Scheduled ferries leave Ancona for Greece, Croatia and Albania, with a seasonal summer service added for Montenegro, while the Ancona to Split line was suspended in 2025.

Check the operator's own site for the sailing you want before you build a day around it. Suspensions on this port have lasted whole seasons.

## Trajan's arch stands on the quay, not on a wall

The Arch of Trajan dates from 100 or 116 AD and was raised on the mole as an honorary arch with a single opening, not as a city gate. It honors Trajan alongside his wife Plotina and his sister Marciana, for enlarging the harbor and making it safe.

It is cut from large blocks of Hymettus marble brought from Greece, set on a podium of Conero stone, with two Corinthian columns carrying the attic. The last restoration was in 2000. Its position matters: you look at it with the working port behind you.

## A pentagon built to hold people in quarantine

The first stone of the Mole Vanvitelliana was laid on July 26, 1733 and the building was finished in 1743, to a design by Luigi Vanvitelli. It is a pentagon of close to 20,000 square meters on an artificial island in the port, deliberately outside the old walls, because its job was quarantine.

Today it holds cultural and music programs, and every room has ramps, so it is one of the few historic buildings here you can cross in a wheelchair. Address: Banchina Giovanni da Chio 28. More at [the Mole Vanvitelliana](/attractions/mole-vanvitelliana-ancona).

## The museum where the rule is to touch

Entry to the Museo Tattile Statale Omero, inside the Mole, is free in 2026, and only the Design Collection charges, at €5, free on the first Sunday of the month. Prices in euros.

The point of the place is that you handle the work with your hands, which makes it the one museum in this list that a blind traveler and a sighted one use the same way. Plan around the hours, because they are short: Tuesday to Saturday it opens 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm (15:00 to 18:00 on Italian signs), Sundays and holidays 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. See [the Omero museum](/attractions/museo-omero-ancona) and [the museum you touch with your hands](/stories/the-museum-you-touch-with-your-hands), and [Marche](/regions/marche) for the rest of the region.

## FAQ

### Can you get a ferry from Ancona to Greece?

Yes. Greece, Croatia and Albania all have scheduled lines out of Ancona, and Montenegro is added in summer only. The Ancona to Split route was suspended in 2025. Ferries carried 739,399 of the port's 817,627 passengers that year.

### How much does the Omero museum in Ancona cost?

Nothing for the museum itself in 2026. The separate Design Collection costs €5, free on the first Sunday of the month. Opening is afternoons only from Tuesday to Saturday, 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm, and 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sundays and holidays.

### Is the Arch of Trajan a city gate?

No. It is an honorary arch with a single opening, built on the harbor mole in 100 or 116 AD for Trajan together with his wife Plotina and his sister Marciana, after he enlarged and secured the port. It was restored in 2000.

### What is the Mole Vanvitelliana today?

A venue for cultural and music programs, and the home of the Omero museum. It was built as a quarantine station between July 26, 1733 and 1743, covers close to 20,000 square meters on an artificial island, and has ramps in every room.

### Does Ancona get cruise ships?

78,228 cruise passengers came through in 2025, against 739,399 on ferries. Freight runs alongside them: 9.6 million tonnes and 154,868 TEU in the same year. You are sharing the quays with trucks, not with a cruise terminal district.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nel 2025 il porto di Ancona ha registrato 817.627 passeggeri (739.399 sui traghetti e 78.228 crocieristi), il 12% in meno rispetto ai 927.415 del 2024. | [AdSP Mare Adriatico Centrale](https://www.porto.ancona.it/it/news/il-2025-annata-positiva-per-il-sistema-portuale-del-mare-adriatico-centrale); [doc 2](https://www.porto.ancona.it/it/news/adsp-mare-adriatico-centrale-11-2-milioni-di-tonnellate-di-merci-e-939-mila-passeggeri-nel-2024) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Il porto di Ancona ha collegamenti traghetto di linea con Grecia, Croazia e Albania, piu' un servizio stagionale estivo per il Montenegro. | [AdSP Mare Adriatico Centrale](https://www.porto.ancona.it/it/news/adsp-mare-adriatico-centrale-11-2-milioni-di-tonnellate-di-merci-e-939-mila-passeggeri-nel-2024); [doc 2](https://www.porto.ancona.it/it/news/il-2025-annata-positiva-per-il-sistema-portuale-del-mare-adriatico-centrale) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| L'Arco di Traiano di Ancona, del 100 o 116 d.C., non e' una porta urbana ma un arco onorario a fornice unico eretto sul molo, dedicato all'imperatore Traiano insieme alla moglie Plotina e alla sorella Marciana per aver ampliato e messo in sicurezza il porto: e' costruito in grandi blocchi di marmo dell'Imetto, dalla Grecia, su un podio in pietra del Conero. | [Comune di Ancona](https://www.comune.ancona.it/it/point-of-interest/758726?category_id=344166) | medium | 2099-12-31 |
| La Mole Vanvitelliana di Ancona e' un lazzaretto pentagonale progettato da Luigi Vanvitelli: la prima pietra fu posata il 26 luglio 1733 e i lavori finirono nel 1743. Si estende per quasi ventimila metri quadrati su un'isola artificiale nell'area portuale, fuori dalle vecchie mura, e oggi ospita iniziative culturali e musicali; e' accessibile alle persone con disabilita' grazie alle rampe presenti in tutte le sale. | [Comune di Ancona](https://www.comune.ancona.it/it/point-of-interest/758716?category_id=344165) | medium | 2099-12-31 |
| Ad Ancona, dentro la Mole Vanvitelliana, il Museo Tattile Statale Omero espone opere che si toccano con le mani: l'ingresso al museo e' gratuito (2026), la Collezione Design costa 5 euro. | [Museo Tattile Statale Omero](https://www.museoomero.it/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/city.ancona.1600.jpg
Author: Terragio67. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ancona_-_Monumento_ai_caduti_di_Ancona,_dettagli_-_GT_ver2_-_2025-09-11_21-09-15_001.jpg

## Other languages

- it: https://myitalia.it/it/paesi/ancona.md
- es: https://myitalia.it/es/pueblos/ancona.md
- fr: https://myitalia.it/fr/villages/ancona.md
- de: https://myitalia.it/de/orte/ancona.md