The castle of Paolo and Francesca
On a hill a few kilometres from the sea, on the border between the Marche and Romagna, Gradara is one of the best preserved medieval fortresses in Italy and one of the most visited, one of the "Borghi più belli d'Italia". The village is enclosed by a double ring of walls, over 800 metres long, with towers, battlements and gates, and dominated by the massive Rocca, the castle, with its tall keep, built between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries by the Malatesta lords of Rimini, and later owned by the Sforza and the Della Rovere. It is said that Lucrezia Borgia lived here for some time with her first husband, Giovanni Sforza, lord of Pesaro.
But Gradara is famous above all for being the setting, according to tradition, of one of the most famous love stories in Italian literature: that of Paolo and Francesca, told by Dante in the fifth canto of the Inferno. Francesca da Polenta, daughter of the lord of Ravenna, was married for political reasons to Giovanni Malatesta, called Gianciotto, the lame, but fell in love with his handsome brother Paolo; the two lovers, surprised while reading together the story of Lancelot and Guinevere, were killed by the jealous husband. Inside the castle, the furnished rooms include the "Camera di Francesca", the bedroom where, according to legend, the tragedy took place, with the trapdoor through which Paolo tried to escape. From the walkway on the walls there is a wide view over the hills and the Adriatic coast. In summer, the village hosts medieval festivals, and the castle is beautifully lit at night.
Tip: walk along the walls on the "camminamento di ronda"; visit in the evening in summer, when the village is lively.
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