Etappe 11 - woensdag 18 mei Vertrekpunt: Tortoreto Lido - Castefidardo Afstand: 160 km
Met Wikipedia-info:
TORTORETO LIDO
Located in the Teramo Province, Tortoreto is divided into two distinct centres: the old town in the upper part and the new township directly overlooking the Adriatic sea. Tortoreto Lido is a seaside vacation resort, especially renowned for its approximately three kilometers long sandy beach hugged by a tree-lined avenue (featuring around three thousands different plants among which palm trees and pine trees), its crystalline waters (Blue Banner since 1992), the elegant Liberty style mansions on the seaside promenade and the great number of cycles paths running along the coast and connecting the cities. Going up along a road punctuated with vineyards and olive groves, the ruins of a Roman villa dating back to the II century b.C. are to be seen before reaching Tortoreto Alta, the historical and also most ancient part of the town which was able to preserve the medieval characteristic of a fortified village. A labyrinth of small squares and narrow streets, arches and towers which host, in the summer season, a number of cultural appointments. Witnessing the rich past of the site are the Torre dell'Orologio, the Torrione, the Ponte and its arches, the S. Agostino seventeenth-century Church, the S. Nicola and Misericordia Churches exhibiting frescoes by Giacomo Bonfini di Patrignone, who most probably was a Perugino’s student. Many natural suspended terraces consent to enjoy the magnificent view of the coastline and of the Gran Sasso.
FROM TORTORETO LIDO TO CASTELFIDARDO
Loro Piceno
The village got its name from a bay leaf (in Italian “alloro”) which grew into the fortress wall. Loro Piceno is a small village ornated with aristocratic palaces and overlooked by the Castello Brunforte built by the Normans and which nowadays houses a museum dedicated to the two World Wars. The imposing Torre della Vittoria is watching over the village; it features a true panoramic balcony sweeping from the Monte Conero to the Maiella mountain, from the Sibillini mounts to the Adriatic sea. Loro is also well known for its cooked wine, a type of raisin wine made of must to which every August a popular festival is dedicated.
Recanati
Along the cobblestone streets of the historical village everything reminds Leopardi. To begin with the spectacular Piazza named after him, to the ancient tower celebrated in the Passero solitario poem, from the secluded pass of the Infinito to the Sabato del Villaggio widening where the Leopardi palace, birthplace of the poet, stands. The site is worth visiting especially after the restoration of the Library offering an alcove and a room with tempera paintings that creates an original itinerary inside the home environment to be looked at with “Giacomo’s eyes”. The pleasant township also gathers the heritage of two geniuses such as the world famous tenor Beniamino Gigli, to whom a Museum is dedicated with a collection of stage costumes, photographs and memorabilia, and the painter Lorenzo Lotto. A prestigious collection of paintings by the latter is housed in the Pinacoteca Civica.
Loreto
The sanctuary-city features a relic of the sixteenth-century Rome set in the Marches’ hills. Piazza della Madonna with its central fountain dating back to the same age forms the heart of the town, closed by the imposing fortress-basilica which houses the Santa Casa di Nazareth. All these walls and ramparts were meant, according to the tradition, to protect the room where the Virgin Mary received the Angel’s Annunciation. The magnificent marble flooring by Bramante is breathtaking. At the piano nobile (first floor) of the Apostolic Palace, the Museum keeps worthy ceramic pieces dating back to the sixteenth-century, tapestries by Raphael and eight magnificent paintings by Lorenzo Lotto.