Monte Conero () or Mount Conero, also known as Monte d'Ancona (Mount of Ancona), is a

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the soft ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, situated directly south of the port of

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

on the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

. The name ''Conero'' comes from the Greek name (''Kómaros'') and indicates the strawberry tree which is common on the slopes of the mountain. Mount Conero is 572 metres high and it is the only coastal high point on the Adriatic sea between

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into pr ...

and the

Gargano Gargano (, Gargano Apulian Italo-Romance arˈgæːnə is a historical and geographical sub-region in the province of Foggia, Apulia, southeast Italy, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming ...

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

in the region of Apulia. Since 1987 it has been a state park and a protected ecological area (Regional Park) with 18 trails and several archeological/historical sites. Wildlife include Eurasian badger,

beech marten The beech marten (''Martes foina''), also known as the stone marten, house marten or white breasted marten, is a species of marten native to much of Europe and Central Asia, though it has established a feral population in North America. It is li ...

least weasel The least weasel (''Mustela nivalis''), little weasel, common weasel, or simply weasel is the smallest member of the genus '' Mustela,'' family Mustelidae and order Carnivora. It is native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa, and has b ...

, yellow-bellied toad,

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey ( raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey ...

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania ...

and pallid swift. Apart the strawberry tree, vegetation include oak,

holm oak Holm oak may refer to: * '' Quercus ilex'', tree native to South and Southeast Europe and parts of France * '' Quercus rotundifolia'', tree native to the Iberian Peninsula and Northwest Africa * ''Quercus agrifolia ''Quercus agrifolia'', the Cal ...

, Aleppo pine, '' Cupressus sempervirens'' and many others. Monte_Conero_8-1-2012_-_Due_Sorelle

Other '' comuni'' near the mountain include Sirolo and

Numana Numana is a coastal town and ''comune'' of the province of Ancona in the Marche region of Italy. History Most scholars see Numana as having been founded by people of Sabine origin, but Pliny the Elder attributed its foundation to the Siculi, bu ...

External links

Parco del Conero website
*{{APOD , date=27 September 2013, title=Andromeda on the Rocks - a view of a part of the Milky Way facing the Andromeda constellation at the twin rocks of "Due Sorelle" Conero