The city founded by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1564, the Fortress of Castrocaro on its rocky outcrop, and the Art Deco Festival Pavilion at the spa.
In the Montone valley, a quarter of an hour from Forlì, lay the border between Medici Tuscany and the Papal States. Cosimo I founded an ideal city here from scratch, Terra del Sole, and two kilometres away he held the fortress of Castrocaro. Below the village are the spa baths, with a 1930s pavilion decorated by Tito Chini.
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.
One of the rare cities founded from scratch in the Renaissance: the foundation stone was laid on 8 December 1564, by order of Cosimo I de' Medici. A rectangle of walls with four pointed bastions and two castles at the gates, straight streets divided into districts that still compete today with crossbows in the Palio di Santa Reparata. On the great square stand the church of Santa Reparata and the Palazzo Pretorio.
Square and walls open at all times.
The palace of the grand ducal commissioner: the old prisons, the halls of justice with the commissioners' coats of arms, and the rooms about local life, 25 in all.
March to December, Friday afternoons, Saturday afternoons, Sundays and public holidays: check opening times.
It rises on the spungone, the yellow rock formed from ancient seabeds, with fossil shells still visible in the walls. The first records date from the 10th century; from the 15th century it belonged to Florence, which reinforced it with bastions. You can visit the Girone, the oldest part at the top, the Cassero with its tower and the Medici arsenals, with a small museum of excavations. From the ramparts you can see the valley as far as Terra del Sole.
Open Friday to Sunday (in summer also in the evening): check opening times.
Opened in 1938 during the golden age of the spa, it combines rationalist architecture with Art Deco: the lustre majolica tiles with golden reflections, the fountains and the floors are by Tito Chini and are among the richest Deco decorations in Italy. For decades this was the venue for the Castrocaro 'Voci Nuove' competition, founded in 1957: Gigliola Cinquetti won it in 1963, the year before Sanremo.
Only with free guided tours, by booking at the tourist office. The park is open to all.
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
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.
The Musei San Domenico with Melozzo and Canova, the Rocca di Ravaldino, Piazza Saffi and the bell tower of San Mercuriale
4 h 35 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Half day
The plan
Europe's first civic library, the Masini Fountain, the Malatestiana Fortress on Garampo hill and the ex-votos of the Madonna del Monte.
4 h 45 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Half day
The plan
Casa Artusi and the fortress of Forlimpopoli, the parish church of Polenta celebrated by Carducci, the Column of Hospitality and the Rocca of Bertinoro.
5 h 00 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Half day
The plan
The Malatesta castle of Longiano, the Roman bridge over Caesar's Rubicon, Giovanni Pascoli's birthplace and Villa Torlonia.
4 h 15 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Half day
The plan
Plautus's birthplace with the Roman mausoleum of Obulaccus and St Vicinio's chain, then the Tuscan spa town.
5 h 00 from Bellaria-Igea Marina Half day
The planTrips 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.
