Description of the attraction
The Sentina Nature Reserve, established in 2004, is the smallest and one of the youngest protected areas in the Marche region. It is located within the municipality of San Benedetto del Tronto between the urban area of Porto d'Ascoli in the north and the Tronto River in the south. The total area of the reserve is about 180 hectares.
For about 1.7 km, the territory of Sentina north of the mouth of the Tronto River consists of sand dunes, between which there are tiny "patches" of wetlands and overgrown salt marshes. Today these ecosystems are among the rarest on the Adriatic coast. But according to historical documents, there was once a lake here, which gradually disappeared due to the processes of urbanization and subsequent land drainage.
The flora of Sentina in general is characteristic of the Marche region and the central and southern Adriatic in particular. But it is of particular importance as a stopping point for numerous migratory bird species on their way from the Gargano Peninsula to the Po River wetlands. It is for this reason that the reserve received the status of a special protected area. In total, 143 species of birds, 14 species of mammals, 5 species of reptiles and 6 species of fish are registered here. On the Sentina logo you can see the image of the most widespread species in the reserve - the stilt bird and the salicornia plant, typical of the wet salt dunes.
In addition, "Sentina" is important from a historical and archaeological point of view, because there are traces of the presence of some ancient civilizations that inhabited the mouth of the Tronto River in the pre-Roman era. Of the more modern architectural monuments, for example, Torre sul Porto, a tower built in 1543 to protect against raids of sea pirates, deserves attention.
