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00 Montegridolfo
Stemma di Montegridolfo

Emilia-Romagna · Rimini

Montegridolfo

A walled borgo of fewer than a thousand residents on the Romagna-Marche border, held alternately by the Malatesta and the Montefeltro through the fifteenth century.

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
42 min from Rimini
Population
994

Known for

  • MALATESTA WALLS

    Fourteenth-century circuit of walls and one surviving corner tower, built in 1337 when the Malatesta refortified the borgo after the 1288 sack.

  • COLLI DI ROMAGNA OIL

    Olive oil from the surrounding hills, carrying the Colli di Romagna DOP and the basis for the Città dell'Olio membership.

  • BORDER BORGO

    Contested through the fifteenth century between Malatesta and Montefeltro, briefly held by Cesare Borgia and Venice before passing to the Papal States in 1509.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J9°
  • F13°
  • M14°
  • A17°
  • M22°
  • J28°
  • J31°
  • A30°
  • S25°
  • O20°
  • N14°
  • D10°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

The festa: San Rocco, 16 August

Why come

Montegridolfo sits on the Romagna-Marche border ridge, twenty kilometers south of Rimini and just inland from the Adriatic. A first castle is documented here in 1148, belonging to the Abbey of San Pietro of Rimini; the village took its name from the Gridolfi, a Rimini Guelph family that settled here during the conflicts with the Ghibellines. After a sack in 1288, the Malatesta rebuilt the walls in 1337 with four corner towers.

One tower survives, plus the bell tower over the gate. The borgo passed back and forth between Malatesta and Montefeltro through the fifteenth century, fell briefly to Cesare Borgia in 1502, then to Venice, then to the Papal States in 1509. The walled nucleus today holds barely 200 of the commune's 994 residents, with the rest in Trebbio, San Pietro, and Cabaldo. Olive oil from the surrounding ridges carries the Colli di Romagna DOP designation; the town joined the Città dell'Olio network on that basis.

The Sunday letter

Montegridolfo is on our list. Its letter is still to come.

We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter every Sunday: the photo, the food, the festa. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Montegridolfo comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Pietrasanta.

Read on

Montegridolfo in our articles

How to get there

From Rimini (RMI), about 56 minutes by car.

Ancona / Pescara (AOI) is about 1h 8m away.

By car from the centre of Ancona 1h 20m or Bologna 1h 50m.

Coming by train into Rimini? Montegridolfo is about 40 minutes away by road.

Every town within reach of Rimini airport.

Montegridolfo, photo 1
Montegridolfo, photo 2

What to see

  • Castello di Montegridolfo

    Walled fourteenth-century burg built by the Malatesta in 1337 with four corner towers, of which one survives along with the bell tower over the original gate.

  • Chiesa di San Rocco

    Fifteenth-century church inside the walls, built in thanks after the village was spared a plague outbreak, with frescoes attributed to the school of the Marchigiana.

  • Borgo murato

    Compact walled nucleus of stone houses, narrow streets and a single piazza, restored in the 1990s and inhabited by artisans and a small permanent population.

  • Museo della Linea dei Goti

    Small museum on the Gothic Line, the World War II German defensive system that ran across this ridge in the summer of 1944.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Montegridolfo fits in a slow Italy circuit.

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We recommend

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.

Living here

  • Population 994
  • In-betweeni
  • Pharmacy: none mapped
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Nearest airport Rimini, 56 min drive
  • Regional capital Bologna, 1 h 50 min drive

Common questions

What is Montegridolfo known for?
Montegridolfo is a walled borgo of fewer than a thousand residents on the Romagna-Marche border, held alternately by the Malatesta and the Montefeltro through the fifteenth century.
Where is Montegridolfo?
Montegridolfo is a comune in the province of Rimini, in Emilia-Romagna, at 290 meters above sea level.
What is the nearest airport to Montegridolfo?
Rimini (RMI), about 56 minutes by car.
How long is the drive from Ancona to Montegridolfo?
About 1h 20m by car.
When is the best time to visit Montegridolfo?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 12 rain days.
Is there a sagra or a festival in Montegridolfo?
The town keeps its patron saint's day: San Rocco, 16 August.
Which other towns are like Montegridolfo?
Portico e San Benedetto, Guardialfiera and Corfinio.
How many people live in Montegridolfo?
994 at the 2023 count.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 290 m
  • Population: 994
  • Surface area: 6.94 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.

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