Marche · Pesaro e Urbino
Carpegna
A Montefeltro mountain town at 748 meters under Monte Carpegna, home of the DOP prosciutto and the Carpegna family seat built in 1675.
Known for
PROSCIUTTO
DOP since 1996, cured 16 months minimum on heavy pigs from Lombardy, Emilia and the Marche, in the dry mountain air at 748 meters.
PALAZZO CARPEGNA
Designed by Giovanni Antonio De' Rossi, built 1675-1697 for Cardinal Gaspare di Carpegna, still held by the family that has been here since the Middle Ages.
MONTE CARPEGNA
At 1,415 meters, the Montefeltro's anchor peak; Marco Pantani trained on its road climb, the Cippo Pantani marks the summit.
When to visit
Best · May–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Why come
Carpegna sits at 748 meters on the southern slope of Monte Carpegna, the 1,415-meter peak that anchors the Montefeltro between the Marche, Emilia-Romagna and the Republic of San Marino. The Palazzo dei Principi Carpegna Falconieri, designed by the Roman architect Giovanni Antonio De' Rossi for Cardinal Gaspare di Carpegna and built between 1675 and the late 1690s, still belongs to the descendants of the family that has held the territory for more than a thousand years. The palazzo survived a fire and the strong 1781 earthquake.
The Prosciutto di Carpegna received DOP status in 1996, cured on heavy pigs from Lombardy, Emilia and the Marche, aged a minimum of 16 months in the dry mountain air. The Parco Interregionale del Sasso Simone e Simoncello surrounds the town with beech, hornbeam and oak; in its center stand the ruins of the Medici Città del Sole, abandoned in the seventeenth century.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Carpegna’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
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What to see
Palazzo dei Principi Carpegna Falconieri
Designed by Giovanni Antonio De' Rossi for Cardinal Gaspare di Carpegna, built 1675 to the late 1690s, still owned by the descendants of the family.
Monte Carpegna
At 1,415 meters, the central peak of the Montefeltro, with summit pastures and a beech-and-hornbeam forest covering the slopes.
Parco Interregionale del Sasso Simone e Simoncello
Cross-border natural park between Marche and Emilia-Romagna, named for the two limestone monoliths that rise from the forest floor.
Sasso Simone
Limestone monolith inside the park, with the ruins of the Medici Città del Sole, the planned town founded by Cosimo I in 1565 and abandoned by 1673.
The slow-trip planner
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Living here
- Population 1,642
- Off the beaten pathi
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Rimini, 1 h 24 min drive
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 59 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 748 m
- Population: 1,642
- Surface area: 28.94 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
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San Leo
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Italy's most dramatic hilltop fortress town — a 2,820-resident borgo on a vertical 583m limestone outcrop in the Montefeltro, 35 km from Rimini, with the Renaissance Forte di San Leo (where Cagliostro was imprisoned and died in 1795), the 9th-c Pieve, the 12th-c Duomo, and the Romagna/Marche frontier panorama from every wall.
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🌳 Parco Regionale
More Parco Regionale towns in Marche
Arcevia
Province: Ancona
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Fabriano
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The Italian paper town at 325 meters, making fine watermarked sheets since 1264 and a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art.
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The northernmost Marche seaside on the Adriatic, where the Riviera Romagnola meets the cliffs of the Parco del San Bartolo at the Romagna border.
Genga
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A small Sentino-valley commune at 322 meters whose territory holds the Frasassi caves, the largest karst show cave in Italy.
Numana
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A Conero coastal town at 56 meters above its port, the Picene harbour that traded with Greek ships from the sixth century BC.