What is Gradara known for?

One of Italy's best-preserved medieval fortresses, twelfth-century core, finished under the Malatesta in the fifteenth century with double walls running almost 800 meters. Setting of the fifth canto of Dante's Inferno: Francesca da Polenta and Paolo Malatesta killed here around 1289 by her husband Gianciotto. Voted Borgo dei Borghi by RAI viewers in 2018, the national competition among Italy's most beautiful villages.

Gradara is a comune in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, Marche region of Italy, about 31 kilometers from Rimini.

Marche · Pesaro e Urbino

Gradara

The walled hill borgoabove the Adriatic where Dante set the deaths of Paolo and Francesca, with one of Italy's best-preserved castles.

31 km / 19 mi

Nearest hub (Rimini)

4,889

Population

May–Sep

Best time to visit

Recognised as

Why come

Gradara sitson a hill three kilometers from the Adriatic, at the northern border of the Marche with Romagna. The castle was begun in the twelfth century by Pietro and Ridolfo del Grifo and completed in the fifteenth, when the Malatesta extended the double ring of walls that still runs almost 800 meters around the borgo. In the fifth canto of the Inferno, Dante placed Paolo and Francesca here: around 1275 Guido da Polenta of Ravenna married his daughter Francesca to Giovanni Malatesta and sent his younger brother Paolo as proxy. The two fell in love. Gianciotto Malatesta caught them and killed both. Whether the killing happened at Gradara, Pesaro or Rimini is disputed among scholars; tradition keeps it here. The borgo was voted Borgo dei Borghi by RAI viewers in 2018. The Castello and the Camerino di Lucrezia draw most visitors. Olive groves around the walls supply the Cartoceto DOP oil.

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Gallery

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Known for

Castello di Gradara
Twelfth-century rocca completed by the Malatesta in the fifteenth century, one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses in Italy, with the Camerino di Lucrezia frescoed cycle.
Mura medievali
Double ring of fourteenth and fifteenth-century walls running almost 800 meters around the borgo, walkable along the camminamento.
Camera di Paolo e Francesca
Frescoed chamber inside the castle, traditionally identified as the room where Dante set the killing of the two lovers.
Chiesa del Santissimo Sacramento
Parish church inside the borgo, Renaissance core with later interventions, holds a polychrome wooden crucifix of the fifteenth century.
Bosco di Paolo e Francesca
Wooded slope below the castle walls, restored as a literary park with reading stations from the fifth canto of the Inferno.

When to visit

Best months · May–Sep

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

May through September is the working season for Gradara. The hill is dry from late April, the castle and walls are open every day, and the literary park below the rocca turns green into June. July and August bring the heaviest crowds: the proximity to Cattolica and Gabicce Mare puts seaside families on the castle road and the borgo's narrow streets fill from mid-morning. September empties the worst of it. April and October are quieter, with cool evenings and clearer light for the Adriatic horizon view from the camminamento. November through March is the slow season, several restaurants and shops close, the castle keeps reduced winter hours but stays open.