Tortoreto prides about 3 km of refined sandy beach. Its promenade full of palm trees, pines and gardens is one of the best in the Riviera Adriatica. The bicycle lane allow you to reach the neighbor villages.
Thanks to the practical walk and bicycle lanes, the best beach clubs and their many purposes, the quality of the beach and the seawater, Tortoreto gained the reward “Bandiera Blu d’Europa” more than 20 years ago and renews it every year.
Italy is Europe’s garden and Tortoreto is its happy isle. In the middle of Italy, surrounded by greenery, Tortoreto spreads out from the wonderful coast to the lush hills.
Elegance and sobriety of its street furniture, its Liberty Villas along the promenade, its rich greenery is what distinguish Tortoreto from other neighbor villages. Thanks to its playgrounds, surrounded by nature, Tortoreto represent an oasis, perfect for families with children who want relax and have fun.
Tortoreto offers a wide range of activities: soccer, beach volley, beach tennis, bocce, jogging and much more to practice on the beach. You can also rollerblading or cycling on the bicycle lane and not far from the beach there are many places designed for tennis and bowling.
In Tortoreto, 2 km far from the town center, there is “Acqua Park Onda Blu”, the biggest water park of middle Italy.
Walking through vineyards and olive tree groves, after catching sight of an ancient Roman villa dating from the second century BCE, you reach Tortoreto Alto, a medieval village situated 227 m asl. Here the sight is beautiful and suggestive, as you can see the coast, the Salinello Valley, the Val Vibrata (Vibrata Valley) and the majestic Gran Sasso D'Italia.
Tortoreto historical town center treasures its fortified village structure as testimony of the past. The most important are: the Clock Tower, the Great Tower, the Bridge with its vaults, Saint Nicola and Saint Agostino’s Churches, with Mattia Preti’s frescos.
Abruzzo natural products and marine tradition influence Tortoreto’s Cuisine, simple and genuine.
Some particular typical dishes are the supreme expression of the cohesion of sea, hills and mountains.
Spaghetti with clams, fish consommé, Teramo “Timballo”, traditional sheep “Arrosticini” and the famous “Maccheroni alla Chitarra” with meatballs, together with local cheese and cold cuts, enrich the local culinary heritage.
Surrounding hills are famous for the production of fine certificated wine, as the red Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG, the white Trebbiano d’Abruzzo DOC, but also the native Pecorino or the Passerina, from white berry vineyards.
The ideal taste itinerary considers a tour into Controguerra, Colonnella, Ancarano and Torano Nuovo wine laboratories.
There, vineyards are better finished than precious gardens and olive tree groves are looked after to make the best Extra Virgin Olive Oil "Pretuziano Colline Teramane".
There are many other taste itinerary to discover local products.
Tortoreto's Oasis is a park full of paths, ponds and small lakes and hosts a unique ecosystem. It is the ideal place for a day trip discovering flora and fauna.
Tortoreto prides prehistoric origins. In the Neozoic age, while the Apennines raised more and more, Mammoths lived here. With excavations, archaeologists rediscover villages and relics of Aeneolothic hut.
The town center rises on a 227 m asl hill, and in the Roman Age its name was CASTRUM SALINI.
This area, between the rivers Salino and Vibrata, up to the towns Sant’Omero and Corropoli, had troubled periods with Feudal Monarchy. In the second half of the 16thcentury, many wars and conflicts between Spanish and French happened here, on river Tronto shore and Tortoreto hills.
During the 17thcentury, pirates, criminals and Turkish ships attacked Adriatic coasts. During the Spanish domination, our area began its social and economic decline. All goods belonged to Tortoreto were sold to the Kingdom of Naples.
People of Tortoreto took part to Independence wars, to the first African war in 1896 and many other conflicts. Tortoreto was a victim of both the first and the second world war, that left nothing but destruction and death.
The historical town center has medieval architecture and has three main areas: "Terravecchia", "Terranova” and “Borgo".
"Terravecchia" is the oldest fortified part with scarp walls, from the Clock Tower to Palazzo Liberati. A clay-brick bridge connects "Terravecchia" to "Terranova". It ends with the Great Tower and with Saint Nicola’s Church.
Approximately, on the 15thcentury, the "Borgo (the external area of the town) grew, up to Chiesa del Carmine, that was upon a time Saint Rocco’s Church, built outside the walls in 1529 and renewed in 1881 with a yellow-brick neoclassical façade.
In 1348, after the Great European Plague, natives built the Madonna della Misericordia Church.
In 1534, Domenico Tavani, together with architect Gio, built the parish Saint Nicola’s Church, with his financial resources. Inside the church, you find the 630 pipes organs, by Vincenzo Paci, realized in 1842.
In 1613, Priest Agostino Tavani built Saint Agostino’s Church and its adjacent monastery.
Today, Tortoreto is an important sea center of the Adriatic coast. It prides a fleet of clams fishing vessel, using the trawling process. It has an industrial area, with metallurgic, interior design and packaging factories.
Tortoreto's promenade is full of Hotels, boarding houses, holiday villages, beach clubs and entertainment center.
