The pentagonal structure, designed by the papal architect Luigi Vanvitelli, is placed into the inner part of Ancona’s natural harbour in a strategic and suggestive position, outside the ancient city ramparts.  The “Mole” (“Bulk”) was a sort of self-sufficient island, connected to the outside world only by a little gangway. It was originally meant for a number of functions: a public leper hospital, a defensive fortification for the harbour, a warehouse, a shield against the sea waves. It safeguarded the public health by hosting goods and people coming from unsafe places who were isolated in a quarantine. In time, it also served as a military hospital; then became a military citadel and finally a tobacco warehouse. Nowadays, further to the celebration of civil weddings, it hosts exhibitions and other cultural events.