Pineto

Pineto is a town and comune in the province of Teramo, on the Adriatic coast of Abruzzo. It is a 20th-century seaside resort, with sandy beaches shaded by pine trees that give the town its name, and is counted among the Sette Sorelle ("Seven Sisters"), a group of seven Adriatic beach resorts in Teramo province.

Until 1920 the area was largely depopulated. The Filiani family of nearby Atri, who owned a villa on the coast here, drew up an allotment plan and planted a coastal pine forest — around 2,000 stone pines (Pinus pinea) — after levelling and fertilizing the barren sandy ground. Inspired by Gabriele d'Annunzio's poem "La Pioggia nel Pineto" ("Rain in the Pinewood"), the settlement was renamed Pineto in 1925, and in 1929 it replaced Mutignano as the comune's capoluogo (administrative seat).

The Torre di Cerrano, about 2 km from the town centre at Pineto's southern border with Silvi Marina, is a 16th-century coastal watchtower built under the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to guard against seaborne raids. It now sits within a protected marine area of some 3,431 hectares and can be visited inside, where it houses a maritime museum, a library, and exhibition space.

Pineto's beaches have received Blue Flag recognition for water quality in multiple years, making swimming and time on the shaded pine-backed sand a principal activity.

Pineto is one of the Sette Sorelle beach towns along the Teramo-province Adriatic coast, near Silvi Marina and Atri.