Inside Abruzzo

With its numerous late 19th-century villas and long sandy beach, Silvi is situated on the border between the Provinces of Teramo and Pescara.

Perched high on hill, the old medieval village of Castrum Silvi dominates the landscape with its breast walls with arches, that surround it like a crown.

The smell of the salty sea, broom and thousands of other smells waft up into this old town into its little streets, alleyways and colored houses.

On a clear day you can see the faint outline of the Balkan coast in the distance while the once perennially snow-capped Gran Sasso Mountain rises behind you.

Silvi dates back to the Middle Ages and it became the fief of the Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere in the 14th-century only to subsequently fall under the rule of the Aquaviva family, dukes of nearby Atri, who at the time ruled a wide swath of the province of Teramo and were chiefly responsible for its growth.

The unique location of Silvi Paese (called Castelbelfiore until the 19th century) led to the town's unusual spindle-shaped acropolis layout with single main street, from which a network of narrow streets branch off.

The Cerrano and Concio gullies run along the sides of the hill down towards the sea.

In 1863, the building of the railroad changed the face of the marina and contributed greatly to its growth.

Certainly the presence of the railway line and later a highway, and above all a railroad station were fundamental factors in the growth of this coastal city, which became the seat of the comune in 1931.

Silvi Marina extends linearly to the Statale Adriatica road and from the area contiguous to Torre di Cerrano to the slow winding meanders of the Piomba River to the border of the province of Pesacara.

The rest of the town, like the historic center, has a life of its own which isn't solely based on summer tourism thanks to its local business and industries.

Without a doubt, one of its most famous products is liquorice, known throughout Italy and even Europe.

Liquorice has been popular in the Abruzzo region for centuries. It was a enjoyable product which cost nothing and people chewed on the juicy roots.

Regarding the gullies around Silvi Paese, we mentioned Fosso (ditch) Concio, which was known as "Concio della Liquirizia" (from the word "acconciare" which means prepare in dialect) because it was here where the roots of the plant, which grew wild and copiously along the clayey hillsides of the Piomba and the Vomano, were harvested.

Taken from 'Una Terra da Scoprire' produced by the Provincia of Teramo