Marche · Fermo
Monte Rinaldo
A 317-resident village on a 478-meter ridge of the Aso valley in the Marche interior, anchored by the 1st-century BC Roman sanctuary of La Cuma — the largest pre-imperial sanctuary excavated in the central Adriatic.
Known for
ROMAN SANCTUARY
La Cuma — 2nd-1st century BC Ionic portico + temple, one of the largest pre-imperial sanctuaries excavated on the central Adriatic side.
BORGHI AUTENTICI
317-resident hilltop village in the Borghi Autentici network, on a ridge between the Aso and Tenna valleys.
SIBILLINI VIEW
Clear-day panorama east to the Sibillini foothills from the village belvedere.
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
The festa: Leonardo di Noblac, 6 November
Why come
Monte Rinaldo sits on a long ridge between the Aso and Tenna valleys in the deep interior of the Marche, 75 kilometres south-west of Ancona. With 317 residents it's among the smallest active comuni in the region and a member of the Borghi Autentici network. The site that draws visitors here is the Area Archeologica de La Cuma, half a kilometre below the village: a Roman republican sanctuary built between the 2nd and 1st centuries BC and rediscovered in 1957.
The main structure is a 38-metre Ionic portico facing onto a temple platform, exceptionally rare in this scale and state of preservation for pre-imperial Italy. The sanctuary was likely a Picene-Roman religious crossroads on the ridge route between the Adriatic coast and the Apennines, and the site museum holds the votive material — terracottas, coins, architectural fragments — recovered from the excavation. The village above is quiet stone, a single piazza, the parish church of San Leonardo, and views east toward the Sibillini foothills.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Monte Rinaldo’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.
By subscribing you agree to Substack’s Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy and our Information collection notice.
What to see
Area Archeologica de La Cuma
Roman republican sanctuary, 2nd-1st century BC. A 38-metre Ionic portico facing a temple platform — exceptionally rare at this scale and preservation for pre-imperial central Italy. Rediscovered 1957.
Antiquarium / site museum
Holds the votive terracottas, coins, and architectural fragments recovered from La Cuma. Small but well-catalogued.
Centro storico
Quiet stone village around a single piazza, with the parish church of San Leonardo and views east to the Sibillini foothills.
Sentiero della Cuma
Short walking path from the village down to the archaeological area through olive groves and oak woods.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Monte Rinaldo 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.
Living here
- Population 317
- In-betweeni
- Pharmacy: none mapped
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Nearest airport Ancona / Pescara, 1 h 22 min drive
- Regional capital Ancona, 1 h 17 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognised as
The numbers
- Elevation: 478 m
- Population: 317
- Surface area: 8 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
More towns near Monte Rinaldo
Petritoli
Province: Fermo
A hilltop borgo at 358 meters above the Aso valley, formed around the year 1000 from the merger of three castles.
Servigliano
Province: Fermo
An eighteenth-century ideal city at 215 meters in the Tenna valley, rebuilt by papal commission on a 137-by-144-meter quadrangle after the old hill village collapsed.
Moresco
Province: Fermo
A 516-person hill borgo at 405 meters above the Aso valley, with a 25-meter seven-sided tower unique in Europe.
Magliano di Tenna
Province: Fermo
A small Fermo-province borgo at 281 meters above the Tenna river, ringed by fourteenth-century walls with two of its six original towers still standing.
Montefiore dell'Aso
Province: Ascoli Piceno
A hilltop borgo at 412 meters between the Aso and Menocchia valleys, holding six surviving panels of Carlo Crivelli's 1472 polyptych.
💎 Borghi Autentici
More Borghi Autentici towns
Archi
Province: Chieti
A 492-meter rocky spur called the Terrazza sul Sangro, fief of del Balzo, Cantelmo, Colonna and Carafa, now Città del Tartufo and Città dell'Olio.
Balsorano
Province: L'Aquila
At 359 meters in the Valle Roveto, a Piccolomini castle that became the backdrop for half of 1970s Italian horror cinema.
Barrea
Province: L'Aquila
A 1,066-meter spur above an artificial lake at the heart of the Abruzzo National Park, with a Samnite necropolis and an 11th-century di Sangro castle.
Calascio
Province: L'Aquila
At 1,200 meters under the highest castle in the Apennines, a village of 125 people that played the monk's refuge in Ladyhawke.
Campo di Giove
Province: L'Aquila
At 1,064 meters under the southwestern Maiella, the highest village in the park, named for a Roman temple to Jupiter.