ASCIANO, a town in Tuscany, 19m. S.E. of Siena by rail. Pop. 4,022 (town), 8,771 (commune). Surrounded by walls built by the Sienese in 1351, it has some 14th century churches with paintings of the period. Remains of Roman baths, with a fine mosaic pavement, have been found in the town. Six miles south is the large Benedictine monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore (1320), famous for frescoes by Luca Signorelli (1497- 98) and Antonio Bazzi, called Sodoma (15o5), in the cloister, illustrating scenes from the legend of St. Benedict; Sodoma is perhaps nowhere better represented. The church contains fine inlaid choir stalls by Fra Giovanni da Verona.