This is a beautiful area of Italy with a varied and stunning landscape. It has been described as "All of Italy in one Region". It maintains many of the traditional ways of life which make Italy such an attractive place to live. It is untainted by some of the more overt tourism found in other regions of Italy.

The beguiling town of Ascoli Piceno is the southern Marche's major centre and, as its tourist brochure says, it is a place you can see in a day yet never forget. Along with its breathtaking main square, it has other outstanding sights that manage to leave their mark on even the most blasé of tourists e.g. Piazza del Popolo, the traffic-free, travertine-paved main square. This beautifully proportioned outdoor meeting place must be one of the most elegant provincial squares in all Italy. To one side of the square stands the Palazzo del Popolo, a splendid 13thC building guarded over by a monumental statue of Pope Paul III.

It is a tranquil valley, totally unspoilt by the taint of the modern world. The families who have lived here have farmed this land for over 300 years. It is a tiny fragment of an almost lost way of life. Today, Piane benefits from an organic and sustainable rural way of life, perfectly in tune with it's ancient past and preserving it for those lucky enough to live there in the future.