What to see · Montesilvano

More places of interest

• Riserva naturale Pineta di Santa Filomena

  The Pineta di Santa Filomena nature reserve is a protected area of about 20 hectares on the border between Pescara and Montesilvano, in the Villa Verrocchio district. It is a long strip of pine wood, over three kilometres long, on average sixty or seventy metres wide and 200 at its widest point. Together with the Dannunziana reserve in Pescara it is the last remnant of the great pine forest that for centuries covered the whole coast.

  What to see

  The pine wood is surrounded by houses to the north, south and west, while to the east it faces the seafront and the sea. The most common trees are Aleppo pines; there are also a few stone pines, which are not native to this coast and were planted by people, and some evergreen broadleaved trees such as bay laurel and holm oak.

  Among the pines shelter seabirds such as terns, marsh terns, the yellow-legged gull and a few cormorants, while the treecreeper, great tit, blue tit, blackcap and stonechat nest here. Inside the pine wood there is also a raptor rescue centre run by the Forest Guard.

  Visiting

  The pine wood lies between the houses and the seafront, between Pescara and Montesilvano. Open access points and paths should be checked with the reserve's managing body.

  Our editors' tip

  If you want to see the other fragment of the old coastal pine forest, carry on south to the Dannunziana reserve in Pescara.

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