San Benedetto del Tronto is the largest and best-known town on the Riviera of Palms, so named because the seafront is lined with various species of palm trees (around 8,000 in total). The Riviera used to refer only to the coastline of San Benedetto, but was later extended to include Grottammare and Cupra Marittima, and even some inland towns in the surrounding area. The town is home to the biggest fishing port on the Adriatic and one of the biggest in Italy.
On the southern pier, renamed The Jonathan's Way, sits the Monument to Jonathan Livingston Seagull, created in 1986 by artist Mario Lupo in honour of Richard Bach’s book. The monument, which is 10m tall, has a blue circle representing the life of seagulls and the water. It is the symbol of the hard work and perseverance typical of seafarers, people who are used to silently facing and overcoming obstacles and difficulties.
Work, work, work, I prefer the sound of the sea: this is the motto emblazoned on Ugo Nespolo’s Monument of Words, dated 1998. The large steel structure (7m tall), coloured with marine tones ranging from blue to red, is located at the end of the northern seafront of San Benedetto del Tronto, near the pedestrian area. Together with Children of War and Joyful, it is one of three works by the Piedmontese artist on display in the city. The text of the sculpture “sings” a line from a poem by Dino Campana. Nespolo himself explains the meaning, on the plaque fixed to the monument: not an invite to do nothing, but a joyful and laid-back warning to live in a way that is more real and attentive to the values of life.
Marche Film Commission — Fondazione Marche Cultura
Piazza Cavour 23 — 60121 Ancona
Phone: +39 071 9951 623/624/625
Email: silvia.pincini@fondazionemarchecultura.it
