What is Pineto known for?

Sixteenth-century Spanish-era watchtower, now the visible centre of Abruzzo's first marine protected area established in 2010. Continuous coastal pine forest planted to hold the dunes, the feature that named the town after D'Annunzio's poem in 1925. Holder of the Blue Flag for beach water quality in most years since 2007, one of the Sette Sorelle of the Teramo coast.

Pineto is a comune in the province of Teramo, Abruzzo region of Italy, about 24 kilometers from Pescara.

Abruzzo · Teramo

Pineto

A planned twentieth-century beach town named for D'Annunzio's poem, with the sixteenth-century Cerrano tower anchoring Abruzzo's first marine protected area.

24 km / 15 mi

Nearest hub (Pescara)

14,571

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Pineto sits at sea level, one of the Sette Sorelle, the seven Adriatic resorts of the Teramo coast. The town was planned in the 1920s by Luigi Filiani as a beach resort under pine forest, and renamed Pineto in 1925 after Gabriele D'Annunzio's poem La Pioggia nel Pineto. In 1929 it replaced Mutignano, the older hill village above, as the capoluogo of the comune. Two kilometers south of the centre stands the Torre del Cerrano, built around 1568 by Charles V as a watchtower against Ottoman raiders. In 2010 the tower and the stretch of sea in front of it became Abruzzo's first marine protected area, 3,431 hectares of coast and shallow water. The beach has held a Blue Flag in most years since 2007. The pine canopy, planted to hold the dunes, still shades the seafront promenade as far north as the Vibrata river.

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Gallery

4 photos · scroll →

Known for

Torre del Cerrano
Sixteenth-century watchtower built around 1568 under Charles V against Ottoman raids, now the gateway to Abruzzo's first marine reserve.
Area Marina Protetta Torre del Cerrano
3,431 hectares of protected coast and shallow Adriatic water established in 2010, the first marine reserve in the region.
Pineta Catucci
Coastal pine forest planted in the early twentieth century to hold the dunes, shading the seafront promenade and the bike path.
Mutignano
Medieval hill frazione above Pineto, the original capoluogo of the comune until 1929, with the Chiesa di San Silvestro Papa.
Chiesa di Sant'Agnese
Modern parish church near the seafront, the religious centre of the twentieth-century resort grid.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September is the season. June and September are the best beach months, warm but not hot, with the marine reserve open for guided snorkelling and the bike path along the pineta in full use. July and August bring Italian summer crowds, especially from Pescara, and the seafront fills. October stays mild but stabilimenti close. November through March is quiet, with cold north winds, most resorts shuttered, and only the tower and the pine forest worth visiting. The Cerrano reserve runs year-round educational walks even in winter.