The Regional Natural Park of the Conero is a setting of rare beauty that includes a high stretch of coast, along with a wide range of hills inside, featuring panoramic views and so much history. An area of 60 square kilometers in total, which extends over the territories of Ancona, Camerano, Numana and Sirolo. Made of white rocks, as the stone of the Conero, are the little bays crafted under the Mount Conero, the promontory 572 meters high and overlooking the Adriatic, unique from Trieste to Gargano.
Its eastern slopes over the sea are formed by limestone cliffs and the remainder is dominated by vast Mediterranean formations and mixed forests. Originating as a result of a long-acting marine sedimentation began in the Jurassic, the Mount Conero has emerged in the Pliocene, five million years ago. The presence of abandoned quarries, makes the park an "open book" on the geological history of the area and on the entire stratigraphic succession of the Umbria-Marche region.
Established in 1987 to protect the richness and variety of flora and fauna and cultural treasures, the Conero Regional Park offers a variety of special botanical features such as arborescent euphorbia, the wallflowers and the wild fennel. The land conservation allows the presence of the rate, fox, skunk, hedgehog, weasel. And even if they are not native species, but now adopted by the protected area, it also allows the presence of wild boar and deer. Well-known point for migration of birds of prey, valuable for those who love bird watching, not infrequently the Park also offers the spectacle of herons in flight or resting in staging points.
In the fourth century BC, the Conero was a landing point for the Greeks, who ascended the southern coast in search places to found new cities. In the Conero area, the Dori people threw their anchors and settled their houses, calling Komaros (arbutus) the promontory and Ancon (elbow) the curved stretch of coast north of the mount. In its highest point, there is the Church of St. Peter, with the remains of the monastic complex that was built shortly after 1000 AC, where Romanesque elements such as capitals decorated with floral or animal patterns are well preserved.
The Protected Area of the Conero, a paradise for hikers, is crossed by paths properly reported on charts and reaching the apex of the nuances during spring, when the large clearings have flourished. The routes are passable by mountain bike or on horseback and are feasible with the help of signs, charts for hikers and, upon request, with the aid of the guides of the Park.
More info:Ente Parco del Conero
via Peschiera 30/a 60020 Sirolo
tel. 071.9331161
www.parcodelconero.eu Forestalp
www.forestalp.it