What is Carpegna known for?

DOP since 1996, cured 16 months minimum on heavy pigs from Lombardy, Emilia and the Marche, in the dry mountain air at 748 meters. 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. At 1,415 meters, the Montefeltro's anchor peak; Marco Pantani trained on its road climb, the Cippo Pantani marks the summit.

Carpegna is a comune in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, Marche region of Italy, about 54 kilometers from Rimini.

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.

748m

Elevation

54 km / 34 mi

Nearest hub (Rimini)

1,642

Population

May–Oct

Best time to visit

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 slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Carpegna 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.

Plan your trip

Gallery

5 photos · scroll →

Known for

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.

When to visit

Best months · May–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through October is the working season for Carpegna. The mountain meadows around Monte Carpegna are open by late May, the prosciutto cellars run year-round but tours are easiest in the dry summer weeks, and the chestnut forests color through October. July and August stay cool at 748 meters; the road climb to the Cippo Pantani fills with cyclists most weekends. November through April is mostly closed: snow falls regularly on Monte Carpegna from December, the Eremo di Monte Carpegna ski lift runs in suitable winters, and the palazzo and surrounding park trails operate on reduced hours.