San Benedetto del Tronto is one of the major seaside resorts in the mid-Adriatic Sea and a town full of surprises…Its modern port, its vocation as a forward-looking reality and innovations in every field might lead a superficial visitor to conclude that this area has no deep roots in history. But it does not.
S. Benedetto has considerable evidence of even the distant past, some of no small value. Just think of the Gualtieri tower, the symbol of the city, or the Guelph tower that dominates the ancient border between the Papal State and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. But also in many recent works scattered throughout the city there is a reflection of an ancient culture, that linked to the sea, which has always been the focus of city life.
One need only think of the monuments to the fisherman and his family, the “retara,” and the Jonathan seagull, all works by great artists that refer precisely to the civilization of the sea: Working… by Nespolo.
And then there is contemporary art, that which draws its inspiration not necessarily from real facts and figures, but instead aims to give sensations to the viewer, to symbolize values and themes of universal scope. With these connotations comes, for example, “The Island of ‘art,” a veritable open-air gallery that characterizes the renovated Secondo Moretti Avenue, the “heart” of the city.
San Benedetto enjoys a particularly benign Mediterranean climate, with mild and moderately rainy winters, but snow not infrequently makes an appearance, even managing periodically to cover the city with a moderate blanket of white.