Parco Naturale del Monte San Bartolo

The Territory

Monte San Bartolo Park is mainly characterized by the stretch of high coast made of cliffs, which is rare to find in the Adriatic Sea. The rest of the territory consists of rural landscape which, until the 1950s, was cultivated also where today it would be impossible, at the border with the sea.
Colle San Bartolo presents therefore two different environments: the cliffs over the sea and the inland.

(the following links lead to Italian texts)

• Geology
• Rural Landscape
• Cliffs and Beach

Further info

Flora, Vegetation, and Wildlife

Monte San Bartolo Park presents very suggestive natural aspects, such as the blooming of Spanish brooms (Spartium junceum) which cover in May the slopes of the hills overlooking the sea, the cliff with expanses of Arundo pliniana reaching the shore, the pebbly coast often forming a thin strip underlying the overhanging walls. Because of the centennial exploitation of the area by man, the vegetation presents itself in its initial stage, apart from some small woods which are currently forming on the inland slope, and which are interesting for the presence of Turkey oaks (Quercus cerris). Even if it is not possible to talk about Mediterranean maquis because of the temperate climate of the area, there are examples of Mediterranean species such as the Italian buckthorn (Rhamnus alatemus) and the common smilax (Smilax aspera). The Park is also interesting for its fauna: above all during the winter, when the noises of the leisure and fishing activities are reduced, there are a number of species of sea birds. It is possible to observe a number of rare seagulls such as the common gull, the Mediterranean gull, the kittiwake or the lesser black-backed gull, but also cormorants, the red-breasted Merganser, the great crested grebe, the black-necked grebe, the manx shearwater, the black-throated diver, and the eider. During the spring, the migration is particularly interesting especially in the area of the cliff, where you will see a number of birds of prey together with herons and storks, both white and black ones. It is also possible to observe a phenomenon like the arrival of migratory butterflies from the sea. Moreover, the pebbly beach presents a very particular flora and fauna, with mollusks, crustacea, fishes, and other organisms characteristic of the rocky substrata.

The Agricultural Landscape

Monte San Bartolo Park includes an area in which nature and man live together from a lot of time, and where the environmental values are respected. The slope coming down from the top of the cliff and leaving from the sea preserves the traditional agricultural landscape with its olive groves, vineyards, and fruit trees, the number of farmhouses, and the net of roads linking them. Nowadays, only some farmhouses are inhabited by full-time farmers and some of them have been transformed into holiday farms, while the country roads form a widespread net of green paths, often shaded by big oaks.

History and Art

The past history has left in the Park important traces, from the ancient lost ports to the archaeological excavations in Colombarone which are discovering a late-Roman villa, while in the sea under Gabicce the myth of the lost town of Valbruna persists. The chain of the ancient historical town centers, from Santa Marina to Gabicce Monte, overlooks the cliff. The small roads within the castles of medieval origins conceal little wonders, like around the square of Casteldimezzo or at the foot of the bell tower in Fiorenzuola di Focara, with its door open on the sea. There are many places related to faith and popular religion: from the small and suggestive country graveyards to the cloistered convent of the "Suore Servite", from the monsatery Girolamino del S. Bartolo (from which the name of the hill derives) to the Sanctuary of Casteldimezzo. The artistic beauties of these places (from the Crucifix by Jacobello del Fiore to the canvases by Viviani) are a prelude to the great noble villas of the area near to Pesaro, which go from the 15th-16th century Villa Imperiale with its concealed gardens and halls painted in fresco, to the 18th century Villa Caprile and ist famous water games, and the adjacent 19th century Villa Vittoria.