Emilia-Romagna · Rimini
Sant'Agata Feltria
A 607-meter Montefeltro borgo crowned by a fortress on a sandstone outcrop, host of the national white truffle fair since 1985.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 57 min from Rimini
- Population
- 1,949
Known for
WHITE TRUFFLE FAIR
The Fiera Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco Pregiato, running every Sunday in October since 1985, the main calendar event in the upper Valmarecchia.
ROCCA FREGOSO
Fortress on the Sasso del Lupo rebuilt in 1474 by Francesco di Giorgio Martini for the Fregoso family of Genoese origin.
TEATRO MARIANI
Wooden theater opened in 1605 inside the Palazzo Comunale, named for conductor Angelo Mariani, born in Sant'Agata in 1821.
CASCIOTTA D'URBINO
The commune lies inside the Casciotta d'Urbino DOP production zone.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J7°
- F10°
- M11°
- A14°
- M18°
- J24°
- J28°
- A27°
- S22°
- O17°
- N11°
- D8°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
The festa: Sant'Agata, 5 February
Why come
Sant'Agata Feltria sits at 607 meters in the upper Valmarecchia, in the historic Montefeltro region eighty-five kilometers north of Perugia and twenty inland from the Adriatic. The outcrop behind the centro carries overhanging walls on three quarters of its perimeter and a thirty-meter drop from summit to base, and its fortress is tenth-century in origin, rebuilt in the fifteenth century for the Fregoso family of Genoa, who gave it their name and held it until the seventeenth century. Before them the town belonged in turn to the Malatesta of Rimini and the Montefeltro of Urbino, each leaving their mark on a settlement whose stone houses cluster below the fortress along the main street, past the convent of San Girolamo.
Inside the borgo, the theater opened in 1605 is one of the oldest still-active theaters in Italy. Every Sunday in October the centro hosts the white truffle fair, running since 1985, the reason the town carries the Città del Tartufo designation. A hill town this small, held by three ruling families and still staging theater in a four-century-old hall, has kept more of its layered past standing than its size would suggest.
The Sunday letter
Sant'Agata Feltria 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 Sant'Agata Feltria comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The button takes you to the letter's own page on Substack, where you leave your email. About the letter
Read on
Sant'Agata Feltria in our articles
The best cheese towns within two hours of Bologna6 towns, Sant'Agata Feltria among them.
The best small hill towns within 90 minutes of Rimini8 towns, Sant'Agata Feltria among them.
The best cheese towns within two hours of Perugia9 towns, Sant'Agata Feltria among them.
The best hidden towns with a food festival in Emilia-Romagna10 towns, Sant'Agata Feltria among them.
How to get there
From Rimini (RMI), about 1h 19m by car.
Bologna (BLQ) is about 1h 43m away.
By car from the centre of Perugia 2 hours.
Coming by train into Rimini? Sant'Agata Feltria is about 56 minutes away by road.
What to see
Rocca Fregoso
Sandstone fortress on the Sasso del Lupo, rebuilt by Francesco di Giorgio Martini in 1474, with overhanging walls on three sides and a thirty-meter drop.
Teatro Angelo Mariani
Wooden theater opened in 1605 inside the medieval Palazzo Comunale, one of the oldest active theaters in Italy, named for the conductor born here in 1821.
Chiesa Collegiata
Sixteenth-century collegiate church with a Baroque interior, housing relics of Sant'Agata and the venerated wooden image known as the Madonna del Soccorso.
Centro storico
Medieval borgo of stone houses below the fortress, with the Palazzo Fregoso, the theater, and the convent of San Girolamo on the main street.
Sasso del Lupo
Sandstone outcrop that carries the Rocca Fregoso, named for the wolves once hunted on its slopes, with overhanging walls on three sides.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Sant'Agata Feltria fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
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 Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco pregiatofood festival
usually held across October and November. Sagre in Romagna
Living here
- Population 1,949, down 9.1% since 2015
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest public hospital Novafeltria, 8 km as the crow flies
- Full fibre reaches 93% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Nearest airport Rimini, 1 h 19 min drive
- Market day Thursday
- Regional capital Bologna, 1 h 45 min drive
Could you live here?
Sant'Agata Feltria is a village with a town close by.
- A village of 1,949, with Novafeltria (6,934 people) 15 minutes away for the shopping and a meal out. Our rule is a town within 15 minutes.
- Cesena, a city of 95,778, is 42 minutes 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. The rest of the series, and the best towns to move to, arrive in the Sunday letter.
The button takes you to the letter's own page on Substack, where you leave your email. About the letter
Common questions
- What is Sant'Agata Feltria known for?
- Sant'Agata Feltria is a 607-meter Montefeltro borgo crowned by a fortress on a sandstone outcrop, host of the national white truffle fair since 1985.
- Where is Sant'Agata Feltria?
- Sant'Agata Feltria is a comune in the province of Rimini, in Emilia-Romagna, at 607 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Sant'Agata Feltria?
- Rimini (RMI), about 1h 19m by car.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Sant'Agata Feltria?
- About 2 hours by car.
- When is the best time to visit Sant'Agata Feltria?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Is there a sagra or a festival in Sant'Agata Feltria?
- Yes. Fiera Nazionale del Tartufo Bianco pregiato. October is when the first of them falls.
- Which other towns are like Sant'Agata Feltria?
- Montefiore Conca, Cerchiara di Calabria and Montegiordano.
- How many people live in Sant'Agata Feltria?
- 1,949 at the 2023 count.
- Is Sant'Agata Feltria a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Sant'Agata Feltria is a village with a town of 5,000 people within 15 minutes (Novafeltria, 15 minutes). The nearest city, Cesena, is 42 minutes away by car. The nearest public hospital is in Novafeltria, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 93% of homes.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 607 m
- Population: 1,949
- Surface area: 79.74 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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