Sirolo

Sirolo is a balcony town overlooking the Conero Riviera.

Just set back from the coastline, its centre slopes gently towards the Adriatic Sea from which a green strip of pine forests and Mediterranean maquis separates it.

The mediaeval village offers striking views, archaeological treasures and a memorable panoramic balcony, while the beaches are among the most beautiful in Le Marche.

What to see in Sirolo

The historical centre of Sirolo developed around the structure of an 11th-century castle, of which a defensive stronghold can still be discerned in the bell tower and the city walls. Its alleyways lead to the square of the Church of St Nicholas, from which there is a belvedere overlooking the coast. 

Below the cliff on which Sirolo rises, there are several beaches, accessible from the sea or by walking along paths through the Mediterranean maquis: the most famous is the beach of the two sisters, so called because of the two stacks that enclose it at one end.

Equally beautiful are the beaches of San Michele and Sassi neri, partly equipped and partly free, which can be reached on foot from the Parco della Repubblica, and the Urbani beach, the largest, which can be reached from Via Bosco. In summer, the beaches are connected to the centre by shuttles. Many other coves and inlets dotted along the coastline, however, are only accessible by sea.

After a day at the beach, towards evening, you can take a walk in the archaeological area The Pines on the site of a necropolis of the Picenian civilisation where the Tomb of the Queen of Sirolo with a chariot, a buggy and numerous ornamental objects. The exhibits are on display in the Antiquarium Statale in Numana, but its reconstruction can be seen in the visitor centre of the Conero park, located in the centre of Sirolo.

The Conero Promontory Park

The Monte Conero Regional Park protects the only rocky bastion on the Adriatic coast between Trieste and the Gargano.

It was set up at the end of the 1980s thanks to the efforts of local citizens' committees and environmental associations to put a stop to speculation in an area of great natural and scenic value, a thin strip of land where many different landscapes coexist in just a few kilometres: the countryside, woods, cliffs and the sea.

Today, it is possible to visit the Conero Park on foot, on horseback or by mountain bike along some 20 trails with the sea on the horizon: you can cross the promontory (8 kilometres) or follow shorter paths to discover the rock engravings (700 metres), the ring of Roman caves and the hidden quarry (2.3 kilometres), the brackish lakes of Portonovo (2.3 kilometres) or to see the stacks of the Two Sisters Beach (5.4 kilometres) from the cliff top.

The underground city of Camerano

Eight kilometres from Sirolo, don't miss the Camerano caves.

They are called caves, but in reality it is an underground city excavated by man, no one knows exactly when or why, formed by a complex of tunnels that occupy the underground of the city between Piazza Roma and Via San Francesco in the area known as Rupe del Sassone, traditionally called the devil's holes.

A plausible hypothesis is that these are the remains of an ancient underground aqueduct later extended in the Middle Ages and also used as a place of worship, as suggested by the ornamental motifs and religious symbols found there.

During the bombing of World War II in July 1944, more than 2,000 locals took refuge there for 18 days.

Today they are one of the most fascinating places to visit on the Conero.