Europe's first civic library, the Masini Fountain, the Malatestiana Fortress on Garampo hill and the ex-votos of the Madonna del Monte.
Cesena belonged to the Malatesta family, and it shows: in the mid-fifteenth century, Malatesta Novello left behind a library that has remained intact to this day, a treasure in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. Above the town stands the great fortress, and on the opposite hill a Benedictine abbey with hundreds of painted ex-votos.
When to goAll year round; on 24 June the Fiera di San Giovanni
The plan from Imola
Leave Imola for Cesena centre50 min driving, 58 km
Cesena centre1 h 35 of visits: Biblioteca Malatestiana, Piazza del Popolo and Fontana Masini, Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista
Drive on to Rocca Malatestiana10 min driving, 2 km
Rocca Malatestiana1 h 00 of visits: Rocca Malatestiana
Drive on to Abbazia del Monte10 min driving, 2 km
Abbazia del Monte40 min of visits: Abbazia di Santa Maria del Monte
Drive back to Imola50 min driving, 62 km
Back in Imola
Times are a guide: driving times are worked out without traffic, then come the visits and ten minutes at every stop to park. In summer towards the coast and at rush hour allow extra time.
What you will see
1Cesena centre
Biblioteca Malatestiana 40 min
Malatesta Novello commissioned it and it was completed in 1454: since then the hall has remained as it was, with three aisles of white columns, 58 wooden benches and the codices still chained in place so no one could take them away. It was the community's library, not the lord's: this is why it is considered Europe's first civic library. In 2005 UNESCO inscribed it in the Memory of the World Register, the first recognition of its kind in Italy.
Only by guided tour of the library, in small groups, and the hall is viewed from the doorway: book well ahead, especially at weekends.
Piazza del Popolo and Fontana Masini 15 min
Cesena's drawing room. The Fontana Masini, symbol of the town, is in Istrian stone with coloured marble, putti and dolphins: it took ten years to bring water to the square, from 1581 to 1591. Around it stand Palazzo Albornoz, now the town hall, the Loggetta Veneziana and, up above, the fortress.
The tourist office is in the square.
Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista 15 min
The cathedral was begun around 1385, when the town belonged to the Malatesta: the brick façade with its rose window is an example of Romagnol Gothic. Inside are Renaissance marble altars and the chapel of the Madonna del Popolo, patron saint of the town.
Free entry, outside Mass times.
2Rocca Malatestiana
Rocca Malatestiana 50 min
The great fortress commissioned by the Malatesta between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries: an enormous enclosure of walls and towers, with a large courtyard and two great towers, the Maschio and the Femmina. The guided tour takes you along the patrol walkways and inside the towers; from the top you can see the rooftops of Cesena, the dome of the Madonna del Monte and, on clear days, the sea.
Guided tour of about fifty minutes: check opening days.
3Abbazia del Monte
Abbazia di Santa Maria del Monte 30 min
Benedictine monks have lived on the hill opposite the fortress for about a thousand years. In the Renaissance church, with its frescoed dome, hang some 690 painted tablets from the fifteenth century to the present day: ex-votos from the faithful for graces received, falls from horses, shipwrecks, illnesses. A chronicle with a happy ending of five centuries of Romagna. Pius VII, the pope from Cesena, was a monk here. From the terrace, one of the finest views over Cesena and the coast.
Closed Monday mornings and at lunchtime; it is an inhabited monastery: avoid service times.
Tips
For the Malatestiana, book your visit before you leave: places are limited.
The Ponte Vecchio over the Savio, completed in 1773 to a design approved by Luigi Vanvitelli himself, is a ten-minute walk from the centre: lovely at sunset.
The same trip from other towns
How long it takes from each town, the drive back included. Tap a town to see the plan from there.
Almost every old town has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with cameras: park outside and walk in. The fine reaches your home, abroad too. ZTL and car parks town by town
This trip with a driver
Romagna Transfer picks you up at your hotel, drops you in front of every stop and brings you back: no parking, no ZTL, and the wine is yours to enjoy.
Trips written by our editors from the facts of our monument pages and the official sites. Opening days and hours change: the note under every place tells you what to check before you leave. No prices: you find them on the museums' sites.
