L'Antico e le Palmethe antiques market of San Benedetto del Tronto.

'L'Antico e le Palme' is the antiques market of San Benedetto del Tronto. It's held once a year — three days at the end of June — along the pedestrian island of the centre (Viale Secondo Moretti, Viale Buozzi, Rotonda Giorgini), with exhibitors coming from all over Italy and from several European and American countries. For an antiques enthusiast, it's one of the dates in Le Marche worth marking in the diary.

What you'll find at the market

The range is wide and of a good standard — not a bric-a-brac market, but an antiques and collectors' fair aimed at anyone looking for pieces of a certain quality. The best-represented categories:

• ·Period furniture — Italian 17th–19th century, the odd French and English piece, regional craftwork (from Le Marche, the Piceno, Abruzzo)
• ·Antique jewellery — period Italian goldsmiths, Liberty pieces, coral (San Benedetto is a land with a historic coral tradition)
• ·Paintings — 19th–20th-century artists of Le Marche, the odd international piece
• ·Silverware — cutlery, trays, tableware, mainly 19th century
• ·Rugs — Oriental and North African, the odd Persian one
• ·Ceramics — Castelli, Faenza, Deruta, the odd Caltagirone piece
• ·Textiles and lace — Offida bobbin lace is well represented, along with pieces from other Italian schools
• ·Collectables — 1950s–70s vintage, modern design, objects of historic Made in Italy

How to get around the market · the arc of the pedestrian centre

The stands are spread along the pedestrian island that crosses the centre of SBT — a linear route of about 800 metres that starts at Rotonda Giorgini, runs along Viale Secondo Moretti and Viale Buozzi, and ends towards Piazza Matteotti. The full walk, stopping to look at the stands, takes 2–3 hours if you're keen and do a bit of haggling. It's worth combining with:

• ·An aperitivo or lunch in the streets of the historic centre — many of the historic cafés are open during the market (Caffè Florian, Antico Caffè Soriano, B77)
• ·A visit to the Paese Alto if it's your first time in SBT (five minutes' walk from the upper end of the market)
• ·A walk to the Molo Sud at the end of the day, for the sunset

For those coming from away · the logistics

Three days of antiques in the late-June sun + the seafront = a weekend that draws a good number of visitors from across the region and beyond. Booking your accommodation at least two to three weeks ahead is advisable — the late-June weekends are in full high season.

• ·Parking: the pedestrian centre is permanently closed to traffic; there's blue-zone parking around it (€1.50/h) and free car parks 5–10 minutes' walk away (see the parking guide)
• ·Train: SBT station is 650 metres from the market, perfect if you're arriving without a car
• ·Luggage and pieces bought: the more professional stands offer shipping; for medium and small pieces, bring the car or a sturdy bag

Combining it with the rest of the Piceno · the other markets

If you're an antiques enthusiast, it's worth planning the weekend to include Ascoli Piceno (35 km, 35 minutes by car): the Ascoli antiques market is held on the third weekend of every month in Piazza del Popolo and other squares of the historic centre. It doesn't always coincide with L'Antico e le Palme, but when it does the combination is perfect — two of the region's most refined markets in 24 hours.

Staying in SBT during the market

Late June is the start of the seaside high season in SBT — the three days of the market coincide with a weekend of high demand for accommodation. For anyone staying at the house, the market is literally nine minutes' walk from the door (the pedestrian centre begins at Rotonda Giorgini, a few hundred metres from our house). The combination of the sea in the morning + the market in the afternoon works very well.

A personal note

The antiques of SBT aren't those of Arezzo or Cortona — a different scale, a different crowd. But for anyone who knows how to look, there are honest pieces at more reasonable prices than at the celebrated fairs of central Italy. And the advantage of the seafront palm grove as a setting — an open-air fair among the palms of the Riviera, with the sea 50 metres away — is worth the visit in itself, even if you don't buy. Three days, once a year: worth marking in the diary.