Emilia-Romagna · Rimini
Montefiore Conca
A 385-meter Malatesta hilltop above the Conca valley, dominated by a fourteenth-century fortress that was once a summer residence of the lords of Rimini.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Montefiore Conca is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia and Bandiera Arancione.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 35 min from Rimini
- Population
- 2,309
- J9°
- F12°
- M13°
- A16°
- M21°
- J27°
- J30°
- A29°
- S24°
- O19°
- N13°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Montefiore Conca sits above the Conca river valley, twenty kilometers south of Rimini, on a hill the Malatesta chose for both military and seasonal reasons: high enough to anchor a defensive ring, mild enough for a residence to be built alongside the garrison. The fortress and the walled borgo that grew around it form a single hilltop nucleus, with the Porta Curina gate marking the point where, after Federico da Montefeltro's troops took the town in the late fifteenth century, control reverted to the Holy See, a shift the villagers recorded by carving the arms of Pope Pius II into the stone themselves. The commune extends beyond that nucleus into the frazioni of Serbadone and Marazzano and out to the ridge holding the Santuario della Bonora, spreading the settlement from a single fortified point into the surrounding hills. Recognition is double: Borghi più belli d'Italia and Bandiera Arancione, a pairing that reads less as decoration than as confirmation that the hill the Malatesta picked for defense and comfort still functions, centuries on, as both a place to look out from and a place worth looking at.
How to get there
From Rimini (RMI), about 49 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 1 h 7 min away.
By car from the center of Ancona 1 h 20 min or Bologna 1 h 44 min.
Coming by train into Rimini? Montefiore Conca is about 33 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Rimini airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Rocca Malatestiana
Mid-fourteenth-century fortress built under Malatesta Ungaro, combining military bulk with a residential wing whose frescoed halls received Pope Gregory XII and Louis I of Hungary.
Santuario della Madonna di Bonora
Sanctuary reached on a wooded ridge two kilometers from the centro storico, with a venerated fresco of the Madonna and Child still the object of the pilgrimage traffic it draws.
Borgo medievale
Walled hilltop nucleus around the fortress, with the Porta Curina gate carrying the Piccolomini arms of Pope Pius II carved by the villagers in the late fifteenth century, after control of the town reverted to the Holy See.
Chiesa di San Paolo
Parish church on the main piazza, built in the fourteenth century and rebuilt in the seventeenth, with a wooden crucifix of the same period.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
La CerquaAgriturismo
La Cerqua has a Gambero Rosso listing to its name.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Montefiore Conca is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 2,309, with Morciano di Romagna (7,225 people) 8 min away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Rimini, a city of 150,333, is 35 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
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 2,309, up 2.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Rimini, 35 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Riccione, 12 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,100 to €1,600 per m² to buy, €4.00 to €5.90 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 87% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Rimini airport (RMI), 49 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bologna, 1 h 44 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
7% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Ukraine and Albania, against 9% across Italy. 11 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe. There are 193 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 32% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Rimini province ranks 51st of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Riccione, 12 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Rimini, 18 km away. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 19 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, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.4% 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 Emilia-Romagna spends about €2,500 a month, €560 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €604 a year for water, on the Emilia-Romagna average. In Rimini, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.36, a meal in a pizzeria €12.64 and a man's haircut €22.02.
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. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods. 8% 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
ROCCA MALATESTIANA
Fourteenth-century Malatesta fortress, both a war machine and a frescoed summer residence that hosted Pope Gregory XII and Louis I of Hungary.
VIEW TO THE ADRIATIC
From 385 meters the Rocca is visible from the coast on clear days, and the hilltop reaches back to the Republic of San Marino and the Apennine ridge.
SANTUARIO BONORA
Fifteenth-century pilgrimage sanctuary on a ridge above the village, with a Marian fresco still drawing devotional traffic from the Romagna interior.
Common questions
- What is Montefiore Conca known for?
- Montefiore Conca is a 385-meter Malatesta hilltop above the Conca valley, dominated by a fourteenth-century fortress that was once a summer residence of the lords of Rimini.
- Where is Montefiore Conca?
- Montefiore Conca is a comune in the province of Rimini, in Emilia-Romagna, at 385 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Montefiore Conca?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Rimini (RMI), about 49 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Ancona to Montefiore Conca?
- About 1 h 20 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Montefiore Conca?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Montefiore Conca?
- Taurasi, Pietramontecorvino and Biccari.
- How many people live in Montefiore Conca?
- 2,309 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Montefiore Conca a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Montefiore Conca is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Morciano di Romagna, 8 min). The nearest city, Rimini, is 35 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Riccione, 12 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 87% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 385 m
- Population: 2,309
- Surface area: 22.32 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 Montefiore Conca appears in
- The best hill towns that eat well within 90 minutes of RiminiNear Riminihill townwithin 90 mineats well6 towns · smallest 996 residents · closest 30 min away
- The prettiest villages that eat well in Emilia-RomagnaEmilia-Romagnaeats wellprettiest villages6 towns · smallest 996 residents
- The best small towns that eat well in Emilia-RomagnaEmilia-Romagnaeats wellsmall7 towns · smallest 742 residents
- The prettiest small villages within 90 minutes of RiminiNear Riminiwithin 90 minprettiest villagessmall7 towns · smallest 996 residents · closest 30 min away
- The best hill towns that eat well in Emilia-RomagnaEmilia-Romagnahill towneats well8 towns · smallest 742 residents
- The best small hill towns within 90 minutes of RiminiNear Riminihill townwithin 90 minsmall9 towns · smallest 996 residents · closest 35 min away
Similar
Towns like Montefiore Conca
What all six share with Montefiore Conca: under 3,000 people · hill towns
Taurasi
Province: Avellino
both inland, away from the coast
Pietramontecorvino
Province: Foggia
both inland, away from the coast
Biccari
Province: Foggia
both inland, away from the coast
Santa Severina
Province: Crotone
both inland, away from the coast
Auletta
Province: Salerno
both inland, away from the coast
Samugheo
Province: Oristano
Our guide
Our nearest guide, 89 km away
Umbria: the towns, when to go, how to get there
The Umbria guide came out of the letter. Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Read the guide: Two banks, no sea. 21 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.