The balcony on the Adriatic
A few kilometres south of Porto San Giorgio, on a cliff about 100 metres above the sea, the tiny medieval village of Torre di Palme, a hamlet of Fermo, is one of the most charming and least known places on the Marche coast, often called the "balcony on the Adriatic". Its stone and brick houses, its narrow lanes and small squares, its churches and arches seem suspended between the sky and the sea, and from its terraces and belvederes the view sweeps over the coast, from Monte Conero to the north to the mountains of Abruzzo to the south, and inland over the hills to the Sibillini.
Despite its small size, the village preserves four churches. The most important is the church of Sant'Agostino, Gothic, which preserves a beautiful polyptych by Vittore Crivelli, the brother of the more famous Carlo, with the Virgin and Saints on a gold background, and frescoes of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Romanesque church of Santa Maria a Mare, one of the oldest in the area, of the eleventh century, has a portal of red stone and frescoes. Below the village, towards the sea, extends the Bosco del Cugnolo, a small coastal wood of oaks and Mediterranean scrub, one of the last remnants of the ancient woods of the coast, crossed by a path that descends towards the sea with views of the cliffs. In summer, the village hosts events, concerts and the "Torre di Palme" festival, and its few restaurants offer local fish and meat dishes on terraces overlooking the sea.
Tip: go at sunset for the light on the sea and the hills; have dinner on one of the panoramic terraces of the village.
Where it is
More things to see in Marche
Where to stay near Fermo
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