What is Acqualagna known for?

Roughly two-thirds of Italy's white truffle production passes through Acqualagna, traded across three annual fairs from February through November. Limestone gorge upstream of town, cut by the Candigliano river, where Vespasian's Roman tunnel still carries the old Via Flaminia. Sixth-century battle between Totila's Ostrogoths and Narses's Byzantines on the plain below the gorge, which gave the town its name.

When is the best time to visit Acqualagna?

Apr–Oct. April through June and September into October are the months for Acqualagna. The Metauro hills hold their green, the woods around Monte Paganuccio are open for walking, and summer truffle season turns the piazzas over to tasting tables in late July. July and August touch the high twenties; the gorge stays cooler than the valley floor. The town's biggest weeks fall in late October and early November when the white truffle fair runs across three weekends and the population doubles. November through March is quiet, cold and damp, but the truffle markets keep running through black season and the gorge in winter mist is the photograph most visitors leave with.

Acqualagna is a comune in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, Marche region of Italy, about 98 kilometers from Rimini.

How do I get to Acqualagna?

From Rimini, Acqualagna is roughly 98 km by road.

Marche · Pesaro e Urbino

Acqualagna

The Italian truffle capital in the Metauro valley, supplying two-thirds of the country's white truffle harvest from the surrounding limestone woods.

Known for

WHITE TRUFFLE
Roughly two-thirds of Italy's white truffle production passes through Acqualagna, traded across three annual fairs from February through November.
GOLA DEL FURLO
Limestone gorge upstream of town, cut by the Candigliano river, where Vespasian's Roman tunnel still carries the old Via Flaminia.
AQUA LANEA
Sixth-century battle between Totila's Ostrogoths and Narses's Byzantines on the plain below the gorge, which gave the town its name.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

The festa: Santa Lucia, 13 December

Why come

Acqualagna sits in the Metauro valley, twelve kilometers from Urbino, on the plain just downstream from the gorge cut by the Candigliano river. The Roman city of Pitinum Mergens stood nearby until Alaric's Goths destroyed it; the survivors founded Montefalcone, the castle from which today's village grew. The name Acqualagna comes from Aqua Lanea, water of slaughter, after the sixth-century battle fought on that same plain.

Three fairs anchor the year: black truffle on the last Sunday of February, summer black on the last Sunday of July, white truffle across the last weekend of October and the two that follow. The town below and the gorge above read as one unit, a river valley that has carried Roman road traffic, monastic settlement and truffle trade in turn, each leaving its mark on the ground without erasing what came before.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Acqualagna’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

What to see

Gola del Furlo
The gorge narrows between Monte Paganuccio (977 m) and Monte Pietralata (888 m); the 38-meter Roman tunnel, cut in 76 AD, is still driven through by the Via Flaminia today.
Abbazia di San Vincenzo al Furlo
Medieval Benedictine monastery set into the slopes above the gorge, counted among the oldest religious foundations in the Metauro valley.
Riserva Naturale Statale Gola del Furlo
Nature reserve established in 2001, covering 3,600 hectares of woodland, grazing land and ridgeline above the river.
Fiera Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco
Held the last weekend of October and the two following, the central event in the Italian white truffle trade.

The slow-trip planner

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Plan your trip

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Fiera Regionale del Tartufo d'Estatemarket
usually held in August. lemarche.it
Mercato Settimanale Di Acqualagnamarket
usually held in October. eventiesagre.it

Living here

Population 4,151
In-betweeni
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Train station in the comune
Nearest airport Ancona / Pescara, 1 h 21 min drive
Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 33 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 204 m
Population: 4,151
Surface area: 50.69 km²

On the map

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These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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