Marche · Pesaro e Urbino
Gradara
The walled hill borgo above the Adriatic where Dante set the deaths of Paolo and Francesca, with one of Italy's best-preserved castles.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Gradara is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia, Borgo dei Borghi and Bandiera Arancione.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 30 min from Rimini
- Population
- 4,856
- J10°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M21°
- J27°
- J30°
- A29°
- S25°
- O21°
- N15°
- D11°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in August at 29° and coldest in January at 9°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Gradara sits on a hill three kilometers from the Adriatic, at the northern border of the Marche with Romagna. The castle was begun in the twelfth century by Pietro and Ridolfo del Grifo and completed in the fifteenth, when the Malatesta extended the double ring of walls that still runs almost 800 meters around the borgo. In the fifth canto of the Inferno, Dante placed Paolo and Francesca here: around 1275 Guido da Polenta of Ravenna married his daughter Francesca to Giovanni Malatesta and sent his younger brother Paolo as proxy.
The two fell in love. Gianciotto Malatesta caught them and killed both. Whether the killing happened at Gradara, Pesaro or Rimini is disputed among scholars; tradition keeps it here.
The borgo was voted Borgo dei Borghi by RAI viewers in 2018. The Castello and the Camerino di Lucrezia draw most visitors. Olive groves around the walls supply the Cartoceto DOP oil.
How to get there
From Rimini (RMI), about 45 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 1 h 2 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 1 h 15 min or Bologna 1 h 39 min.
Coming by train into Rimini? Gradara is about 29 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rimini airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castello di Gradara
Twelfth-century rocca completed by the Malatesta in the fifteenth century, one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses in Italy, with the Camerino di Lucrezia frescoed cycle.
Mura medievali
Double ring of fourteenth and fifteenth-century walls running almost 800 meters around the borgo, walkable along the camminamento.
Camera di Paolo e Francesca
Frescoed chamber inside the castle, traditionally identified as the room where Dante set the killing of the two lovers.
Chiesa del Santissimo Sacramento
Parish church inside the borgo, Renaissance core with later interventions, holds a polychrome wooden crucifix of the fifteenth century.
Bosco di Paolo e Francesca
Wooded slope below the castle walls, restored as a literary park with reading stations from the fifth canto of the Inferno.
Living here
Could you live here?
Gradara is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 4,856, with Gabicce Mare (5,436 people) 8 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Pesaro, a city of 95,266, is 23 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 4,856, up 0% since 2015
- Nearest city Pesaro, 23 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Cattolica, 4 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,150 to €2,800 per m² to buy, €6.50 to €9.10 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 95% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rimini airport (RMI), 45 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 15 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
6% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Ukraine and Poland, against 9% across Italy. 11 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe. There are 155 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 17% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Pesaro e Urbino province ranks 31st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Pesaro, 9 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Rimini, 23 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 22 km as the crow flies.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax at the 2025 rate, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.7% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Marche spends about €2,480 a month, €620 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €643 a year for water, on the Marche average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. 2% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
MALATESTA CASTLE
One of Italy's best-preserved medieval fortresses, twelfth-century core, finished under the Malatesta in the fifteenth century with double walls running almost 800 meters.
PAOLO AND FRANCESCA
Setting of the fifth canto of Dante's Inferno: Francesca da Polenta and Paolo Malatesta killed here around 1289 by her husband Gianciotto.
BORGO DEI BORGHI
Voted Borgo dei Borghi by RAI viewers in 2018, the national competition among Italy's most beautiful villages.
Common questions
- What is Gradara known for?
- Gradara is the walled hill borgo at 142 meters above the Adriatic where Dante set the deaths of Paolo and Francesca, with one of Italy's best-preserved castles.
- Where is Gradara?
- Gradara is a comune in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, in Marche.
- What is the nearest airport to Gradara?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rimini (RMI), about 45 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Gradara?
- About 1 h 15 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Gradara?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 10 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Gradara?
- Gabicce Mare, Sirolo and Numana.
- How many people live in Gradara?
- 4,856 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Gradara a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Gradara is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Gabicce Mare, 8 min). The nearest city, Pesaro, is 23 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Cattolica, 4 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 95% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 142 m
- Population: 4,856
- Surface area: 17.53 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Gradara appears in
- The best hidden coastal towns in MarcheMarchecoastalhidden6 towns · smallest 3,762 residents
- The prettiest small villages within 90 minutes of RiminiNear Riminiwithin 90 minprettiest villagessmall7 towns · smallest 996 residents · closest 30 min away
- The 8 prettiest villages in the province of Pesaro e UrbinoPesaro e Urbino provinceprettiest villages8 towns · smallest 1,132 residents
- The best olive oil towns in MarcheMarcheolive oil8 towns · smallest 2,503 residents
- The 10 prettiest villages within 90 minutes of RiminiNear Riminiwithin 90 minprettiest villages10 towns · smallest 996 residents · closest 23 min away
- The best coastal towns within two hours of BolognaNear Bolognacoastalwithin 2 hours10 towns · smallest 4,856 residents · closest 62 min away
Similar
Towns like Gradara
What all six share with Gradara: on the Adriatic coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · near sea level
The letter
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