San Benedetto del Tronto

Starting in the 1930s, San Benedetto del Tronto began planting palm trees along its Adriatic seafront with a singular goal: convince visitors they’d accidentally arrived somewhere more exotic than the Marche coast. The campaign worked almost too well. Today, over 8,000 palms from species native to the Canary Islands and beyond line the lungomare, earning the town its self-appointed nickname ‘Riviera delle Palme.’

Meanwhile, the fishing port still operates one of the largest wholesale markets on the Adriatic, and brodetto alla sambenedettese remains the local specialty, a fish soup born from whatever couldn’t be sold at auction, now a point of regional pride. Somewhere along the way, the town’s leftovers became its signature dish, and its landscaping became a major piece of its identity.