Tortoreto ( Teramano: ') is a coastal town and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of the

province of Teramo The province of Teramo (; Neapolitan language, Abruzzese: ') is a provinces of Italy, province in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Teramo. The province has an area of , a population of 313,029 (2012), and is subdivided into ...

in the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

region of Italy. It has two distinct parts. The old town is on a hill not far from 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 Se ...

. The new part, usually referred to as Tortoreto Lido, is seaside and located next to SS 16. Tortoreto can be reached by direct rail service or by flying to the Pescara airport and then travelling north. The ''comune'' of

Alba Adriatica Alba Adriatica is a town and ''comune'' with 12,386 residents (2014) in the province of Teramo in the Abruzzo region of central eastern Italy. It is known as one of the "seven sisters" of the northern Abruzzo coast, i.e. the seven coastal towns i ...

was created in 1956 by splitting it off from Tortoreto.

Toponymy

The name of the town is due to the large presence of turtle doves (''tortore'') during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Ro ...

noticed in a letter the large amount of these species of birds which used to live in this area. Later on, the town created on the top of the hills after the

barbarian invasions The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...

started to be called ''Turturitus'' or ''Turturetum'', and, eventually, the current denomination of ''Tortoreto'' came into common use.

Climate

Education

In Tortoreto there are two state

primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

and two state

middle schools Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

, which are overall attended by about 680 students, as well as a number of state and private child care institutions and nursery schools. There are also two private vocational secondary schools.

Economy

During the summer season, the main economic activity is tourism. Its geographic position, climate, facilities and environmental projects, have all been planned or used to further tourism. Tortoreto has been awarded the European Blue Flag in 1992 and, then, from 1998 until 2023. Fishing was a common activity in Tortoreto before tourism and it continues on a smaller scale to the present. Another common activity in the area was farming, which produced substantial amounts of olive oil and wheat. This activity continues today on a smaller scale too.

International relations

Tortoreto is twinned with: *

Habay Habay (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Luxembourg (Belgium), province of Luxembourg, Belgium. On 1 January 2007 the municipality, which covers 103.64 km2, had 7,903 inhabitants, giving a populati ...

, Belgium

References

External links

Official website

{{authority control Cities and towns in Abruzzo Municipalities of the Province of Teramo