Emilia-Romagna · Rimini
Santarcangelo di Romagna
A Via Emilia hill town on the Marecchia plain, with over 150 tufa caves under the centro and a Malatesta fortress on its summit.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Santarcangelo di Romagna is on our list
It holds Cittaslow.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- By car
- 17 min from Rimini
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 22,216
- J10°
- F13°
- M14°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J31°
- A30°
- S25°
- O21°
- N14°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Santarcangelo di Romagna sits on a low hill between the Marecchia and the Uso rivers, eleven kilometers northwest of Rimini on the Via Emilia. Roman in origin, named Pagus Acervolanus, the town grew under the Malatesta of Rimini, who fortified the hill in 1386 with the Rocca Malatestiana that Carlo Malatesta built and contemporaries called an eighth wonder of the world. Under the centro storico, over 150 man-made caves on eight levels cut into the soft tufa rock form an underground city: pagan place of worship, burial chambers, wine cellars, and in 1944 air-raid shelters that saved most of the population.
The town gave the world two dialect poets, Raffaello Baldini and Tonino Guerra, whose verses earned Santarcangelo the title capital of Romagnolo dialect poetry. Guerra, also Fellini's screenwriter, designed the Strada delle Meridiane that runs through the centro. The Festival Internazionale del Teatro in Piazza, founded in 1971, fills the streets every July.
How to get there
From Rimini (RMI), about 42 min by car.
Ancona (AOI) is about 1 h 19 min away.
By car from the center of Bologna 1 h 23 min or Ancona 1 h 31 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Bologna or Florence?
Coming by train into Rimini? Santarcangelo di Romagna is about 17 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
Hilltop fortress built by Carlo Malatesta in 1386, with the surviving keep, walls, and the Torre del Campanone over the centro.
Grotte Tufacee
Over 150 man-made caves on eight levels cut into the tufa under the centro storico, used as pagan sanctuaries, wine cellars, and 1944 air-raid shelters.
Piazza Ganganelli
Central square named for Pope Clement XIV (Giovanni Ganganelli, born here in 1705), with a triumphal arch from 1779.
Collegiata di Santarcangelo
Eighteenth-century collegiate church, holding the Compianto sul Cristo Morto attributed to the school of Niccolò dell'Arca and a Bellini crucifix.
Teatro Il Lavatoio
Town theater inside a converted nineteenth-century public washhouse, base for the Festival Internazionale del Teatro in Piazza since 1971.
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.
Osteria La SangiovesaTrattoria
Osteria La Sangiovesa holds three Gambero Rosso prawns and a spot in the Michelin Guide.
LazarounRistorante
Lazaroun holds a spot in the Michelin Guide.
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?
Santarcangelo di Romagna meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 22,216 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Rimini, a city of 150,333, is 17 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
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 22,216, up 2.3% since 2015
- Nearest city Rimini, 17 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €2,000 to €3,000 per m² to buy, €7.50 to €10.80 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Commuter belt
- 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
- Forlì airport (FRL), 40 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bologna, 1 h 23 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
9% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Albania, China and Ukraine, against 9% across Italy. 40 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom and Germany. There are 215 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 16% 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 Rimini, 7 km as the crow flies, and it is a major one. The nearest IB school is International School of Rimini, 10 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 between 0.53% and 0.8% to your income tax, depending on your income, with nothing due on income under €15,000. 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. 18% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 30% in a high or medium one. 3% 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
GROTTE TUFACEE
Over 150 man-made caves on eight levels under the centro, in continuous use from pagan rites to wartime shelters.
FESTIVAL DEL TEATRO
International street theater festival running every July since 1971.
TONINO GUERRA
Screenwriter for Fellini, Antonioni, and Tarkovsky, born here in 1920, his Strada delle Meridiane runs through the centro.
PESCA E NETTARINA DI ROMAGNA
The commune lies inside the Pesca e Nettarina di Romagna IGP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Santarcangelo di Romagna known for?
- Santarcangelo di Romagna is a Via Emilia hill town on the Marecchia plain, with over 150 tufa caves under the centro and a Malatesta fortress on its summit.
- Where is Santarcangelo di Romagna?
- Santarcangelo di Romagna is a comune in the province of Rimini, in Emilia-Romagna, at 42 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Santarcangelo di Romagna?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Forlì (FRL), about 40 min by car.
- Can you get to Santarcangelo di Romagna without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Bologna to Santarcangelo di Romagna?
- About 1 h 23 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Santarcangelo di Romagna?
- Best in Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Santarcangelo di Romagna?
- Collecchio, Gorgonzola and Curtatone.
- How many people live in Santarcangelo di Romagna?
- 22,216 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Santarcangelo di Romagna a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Santarcangelo di Romagna is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Rimini, is 17 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 87% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
The numbers
- Elevation: 42 m
- Population: 22,216
- Surface area: 45.01 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 Santarcangelo di Romagna appears in
- The best towns known for what they grow within an hour of RiminiNear Riminiwithin 60 minproduce zone9 towns · smallest 6,505 residents · closest 17 min away
- The best towns known for what they grow within two hours of AnconaNear Anconawithin 2 hoursproduce zone9 towns · smallest 926 residents · closest 91 min away
- The best towns with a serious restaurant that eat well within 90 minutes of RiminiNear Riminiwithin 90 minserious restauranteats well10 towns · smallest 996 residents · closest 17 min away
Similar
Towns like Santarcangelo di Romagna
What all six share with Santarcangelo di Romagna: in the Po valley · over 10,000 people · near sea level
Collecchio
Province: Parma
both have a railway station in the comune
Gorgonzola
Province: Milano
both have a railway station in the comune
Curtatone
Province: Mantova
both have a railway station in the comune
Susegana
Province: Treviso
both have a railway station in the comune
Faenza
Province: Ravenna
both have a railway station in the comune
Montechiarugolo
Province: Parma
The letter
Santarcangelo di Romagna 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: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Santarcangelo di Romagna comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Gubbio, 80 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.