OUR LE MARCHE
The tourist association “Sibillini segreti e sapori”(Sibillini secrets and flavours) is made up of farm stays, hotels, B&Bs, a Country House, mountain refuges, restaurants and other accommodation suitable to the diverse needs of tourists. The association was born with the aim of promoting and adding value to this part of Le Marche, between Ascoli Piceno & Fermo characterised by the evocative presence of the Sibillini Mountains. An area so special and yet still so little known.
There are many places worthy of note which have a rich cultural and historic heritage, as well conserved in the cities of art as in the villages inland. The works of the Crivellis at Monte San Martino, the tower houses and civic museum at Montefortino, San Ruffino abbey, the frescoes in the church of Saint Francis or La Fenice theatre in Amandola are just a few examples of the precious treasures that one can appreciate in this area.
The area keeps alive ancient traditions that enhance the various local products by way of historic and food & wine events, such as Diamonds on the Table, the Festival of the Fregnaccia (a type of pasta) and the re-enactment of the “Canestrelle” in Amandola, the festival of vincisgrassi (a type of lasagne) at San Venanzo and Montefalcone’s “Tastes of Autumn” festival.
THE SIBILLINI MOUNTAINS
From the landscape of sweetly rolling hills one goes on to the harshness of the mountains and the deep gorges.
The Sibillini Mountains, which became a national park in 1993, extend for 70,000 hectares and comprises 16 Marchigiani and 2 Umbrian communities.. All the areas of the Sibillini National Park have unforgettable landscapes that surprise and amaze. The flowering at Castelluccio, the Plains of Ragnolo, the springs of the River Ambro, the Fiastrone Ravine, the lakes of Palazzo Borghese…are destinations for tourists and travellers who every year choose this area because of the incredibly varied landscape, the flora and the natural ambience, in which it is still possible to encounter falcons, owls, foxes, porcupines, deer…
Many of the mountains are over 2000 metres, amongst which is Mount Vettore home to Pilate’s Lake, a small basin lake. Only in the water of this lake live the chirocefalo del Marchesoni, miniscule crustaceans that have survived from the Glacial Period adapting themselves to the various climatic changes that have occurred..
Not far away is Mount Sibilla which hosted the sorceress Alcina, cited in the works of Antoine De La Sale, who in 1420 visited the Sybil’s cave leaving written testimony in “The Paradise of the Queen Sybil”
Among these mountains are numerous testimonies to a cultural history interwoven with the sacred and the profane evidenced in the place names eg the Throat of Hell, Saint Leonard’s hermit, Pilate’s lake and the Redemeer’s peak.
Our mountains, our locations, our villages, our flavours constitute ideal attractions for historians, naturalists, religious, travellers, rock climbers and gourmets, but also for those who simply want to enjoy the tranquillity and rediscover ancient emotions in places where time seems to have regained nature’s true rhythm.
