Borgo di Montegridolfo

Montegridolfo stands on the ridge dividing the Valconca valley in Romagna from the Foglia valley in the Marche: a borderland contested for centuries between the Malatesta and Montefeltro families. In 1336 the castle was destroyed, and between 1337 and 1339 Malatesta il Guastafamiglia had it rebuilt in the form you see today.

You enter through the gateway tower, and inside the village has remained medieval: a rampart surrounded by strong walls with towers, and within narrow lanes lined with houses, some lived in all year round, others for holidays. The restoration has put everything back in its place without erasing the centuries.

Next to the tower stands the Palazzo del Municipio; Palazzo Viviani, a former noble residence, is now a hotel and restaurant. In the little square, the Viviani chapel and a copy of a Black Madonna are what remains of the thirteenth-century church of Sant'Agostino, destroyed in the war in 1944.

Montegridolfo stood on the Gothic Line, the Second World War front. On long summer days, go to the eastern side of the walls: from there you can look down as far as the sea.