Torre di Palme stands on the hills surrounding Fermo: an ancient village perched on a rocky spur, rich in history and with an enchanting view over the sea.
Torre di Palme is a village of rare architectural uniformity, which surprises the visitor with urban views of unique charm; the narrow alleys that wind between the terracotta facades of the houses in bloom with geraniums, frame sweeping views of the sea and the surrounding hills.
Just visit the new Archaeological Museum with the remains of Picene tombs and the valuable medieval churches to immerse yourself in an atmosphere of other times.
Along the main street, shortly after the old Palazzo Priorale (XIV century), you will find the St. Augustine Temple, preserving a fine Polittico by Vittore Crivelli (end of XV century), rich in glazed colours, revived by the golden funds. The painting was smuggled in 1972 but it was almost totally recovered the following month and then restored; today only four tiles of the predella are missing.
Along the main street, you can reach the Church of Santa Maria a Mare (XII-XIII century), with a Romanesque-Gothic structure, in which amazing bacini (typical decorations made of ceramic) of majolica from the XIV century decorate the sacristy’s walls (South-West) and on the inside, on the left wall of the presbytery, you can still find a gentle representation of the Madonna di Loreto (XV century). At the end of the avenue, a wide panoramic viewpoint allows the eye to space along the sandy shores dominating the residential area of Porto San Giorgio, with its modern tourist port and the ancient sanctuary of Santa Maria a Mare, an important worship centre since the Middle Ages.
Near Torre di Palme, you can reach in a few minutes by foot the walk of Forest of Cugnolo, with its exceptional botanic and morphological value.
This amazing itinerary is made even more suggestive by the visit to the Lovers’ Cavern, scene of the moving love story of the young Antonio e Laurina, from whose events the Cavern’s legend came alive.
Torre di Palme is one of the most loved places in Fermo’s municipality.
The beautiful hills surrounding the city, sloping down towards the sea, are dotted with small villages scattered evenly over the territory.
Today Torre di Palme, from a fierce castle has grown to a fascinating village latch on a rocky spur that overlooks the marine expanse. Since 2017 it has been honorary guest of the Club “I Borghi più belli d’Italia” (“The most beautiful villages in Italy”).
The history of Torre di Palme has remote origins: its territory, called Ager Palmensis by Pliny the Elder, had been occupied since the Paleolithic. Since the early Iron Age, on the hills just behind the coast, had taken up residence very ancient seafaring people, whose traces have arrived to us through the archaeological remains preserved in the Palmenses’ necropolis (around the VI century b.C.), that recently has awakened the interest of the National Geographic too.
Where does the name “Torre di Palme” come from? It comes probably from a wine produced by the Picentes, called Palmense; it was really appreciated and exported well over the local borders: the writers Varrone and Columella talk about the “Città di Palma” (City of Palm), that became Turris Palmæ because of the fortification of the settlement during the early Middle Ages.
During the IX century, the Hermit monks came from the coast; we owe them the foundation of the Church of San Giovanni Battista. It is here that, around the church and the fortalice, during the XII century the village of Torre di Palme began to develop, a fierce medieval castle equipped with a firm defensive system. Little by little, the county’s population left the old settlement of Palma and moved progressively on the hill.
The history of Torre di Palme is emblematic of the local people’s proud spirit of independence: the Middle Ages saw this little village measuring up against the dominance of Fermo, constantly contested during the Investiture Controversy between the Papacy and the empire. The municipalities era brought to a phase of independence that goes from the end of 1100 to 1877, when the village spontaneously asked for the admission in Fermo’s municipality.
Favourite village for many vacationers that are able to appreciate its fascination, Torre di Palme proposes incomparable urban glimpses. The narrow streets that wind among the brick facades of the houses full of geraniums frame wide views of the sea and of the surrounding hills. Visiting its medieval churches and the new Archaeological Museum, rich in relics of Picentes’ tombs, has the power to catapult the visitor in an atmosphere of past times.
Torre di Palme is today one of the ten contrade (city quarters) of the town. Every year, on 15 August, the contrada’s members take part in the historical re-enactment called Cavalcata dell’Assunta: the inhabitants parade wearing the typical costumes of the coast’s citizens and they carry a boat called Vincenzina. This contrada is the furthest from the city centre, but the oldest too.
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