Description of the attraction
Castle Castello di Gradara is located in the vicinity of the small resort town of Gabbiche Mare on the Adriatic coast of Italy. It offers a wonderful view of the Republic of San Marino - a tiny independent state located on the rocky mountain of Monte Titano on the border of the Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna and the Marche. Today it is one of the most popular tourist attractions on the Riviera and is part of the standard excursion package.
The imposing 14-century castle walls that surround the town of Gradara are some of the best-preserved medieval defensive walls in the region. They are crowned with jagged loopholes and bristling towers. The castle itself is perfectly visible from the northern part of the coast of the Italian region of Marche.
The only major street in Gradara smoothly leads from the city gates to the fortress itself, built on a hilltop high above the city. Along the street there are numerous souvenir shops and trattorias with delicious food.
Castello Gradara Castle once belonged to the powerful Malatesta family, whose representative Sigismund Pandolfo was a famous condottieri and ruled in Rimini. It was in this castle, according to legend, that the murder of Francesca da Rimini and her beloved Paolo took place in 1289 - this event will forever remain in history, thanks to Dante's pen.
The Malatesta family owned Gradara for almost two centuries. Once they withstood the siege of another influential family, the Sforza, for 42 days, but finally surrendered the city in 1464.
Most of the decoration of the castle was carried out in 1493 by order of Giovanni Sforza, who wanted to surprise his young bride, the infamous Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI and sister of Cesario Borgia. The Chapel of Castello Gradara houses a magnificent glossy altarpiece by Andrea della Robbia in terracotta. True, most of the modern visitors to the castle are rather interested in the arsenal and torture chambers.
