Torre del Cerrano Marine Protected Area

The area has two distinct environmental typologies: the typical sandy bottoms of the Adriatic and some parts of bottom reefs. In the area there are numerous animal species and a small but large contingent of plant species, including specimens of a small and rare gastropod of the Adriatic known as the Trivia adriatica. In the underwater environment of the protected area it is easy come across various species of fish and molluscs including conger eels, sea bass, sole and bream that live in contact with the sandy bottoms characterized by extensive and important shoals of Chamelea gallina (common clam).

This area owes its name to the Cerrano stream that descends from the hills of Atri and to the tower built in 1568 by the Spaniards, a bulwark against Saracen pirates.

The vegetation of the Protected Area presents stupendous specimens of sea lily, Gargano mullein, maritime Soldanella and beach Euphorbia. In the southern area, there is also a dense population of the extremely rare beach saffron.

The marine protected area is characterized by low and sandy coast environments, typical of the Adriatic, and represents a transition area between the sea and the mainland.

The species present in the Torre del Cerrano Marine Protected Area include the Fratino, a rare species of migratory bird that nests on the beach, and several species of insects such as the Scarabeus semipunctatus and the rare Lamprinodes pictus. Precisely to protect and safeguard the nesting of the Fratino, a ban on dogs was imposed on the beach of the Marine Protected Area from March to July. (for more information: https://bit.ly/41y1xAA)

If you are lucky, in the protected marine area, there is also the possibility of admiring, directly from the beach, pods of dolphins swimming offshore, moreover, in the summer of 2022 we witnessed a truly extraordinary event: the hatching of a nest of loggerhead turtle eggs. The nest in question, located in zone C1 of the Amp, is the first documented case of nesting in the Marine Protected Area and the second in Abruzzo after that of Roseto degli Abruzzi in 2013.