Le bandiere arancioni di Romagna: la provincia di Forlì-Cesena | Consorzio Vini di Romagna
Mosaico di Vita | Consorzio Vini di Romagna
August 2022 | Territory

Touring Club Italia "orange flags" of Romagna: the province of Forlì-Cesena

In Emilia-Romagna there are 21 orange flags, of which 11 in the three Romagna provinces of the Region: Ravenna, Rimini and Forlì-Cesena. In this post we find out which are the orange flag villages of the province of Forlì-Cesena, their history and the main points of interest.

Bagno di Romagna

Small village on the Apennines in the heart of Romagna-Tuscany, it is located along the road that connects Rome to Ravenna. It is a few tens of kilometers from the Romagna Riviera and from the Tuscan cities of art - Arezzo and Florence. Bagno di Romagna is the temple of slow living. The purity of the elements, the natural warmth of the waters, the intensity of the flavors, the friendliness of a small mountain community and the quality of services, the result of a long experience, are the souls of a land of encounters: with the history of long relationship with Florence; with the pleasure of the body, pampered, massaged, cradled by the thermal waters; with the nature of the Casentinesi Forest National Park and its network of villages and paths; with the gastronomy, the refined one of the great chefs and the convivial one of the small inns; with the spirituality of the sacred places that dot its surroundings.


Longiano

The city of Longiano is located on the first hills between Cesena and Rimini. Orange Flag of the Touring Club since 2005, Longiano, an excellently preserved medieval village, offers numerous historical and artistic testimonies, all to be discovered and rediscovered. The historic center still preserves the characteristic double walls, a castle of medieval origins, former residence of the Malatesta family, an imposing Civic Tower, five museums, a war refuge, two important historic churches, a nineteenth-century theater. From the Malatesta Castle the view is always breathtaking: you dominate the surrounding hills and the plain, and your gaze reaches as far as the Adriatic Sea and the Romagna Riviera. Not to be missed is a visit to the treasures of the Tito Balestra Foundation, a very original collection of works by the greatest Italian artists of the twentieth century, such as Guttuso, Maccari, Mafai, Morandi, Sironi, De Pisis, Vespignani, Zancanaro and numerous others, plus a small but significant selection of foreign artists: Goya, Chagall, Matisse, Kokoschka.


Monteleone

Small fraction of the municipality of Roncofreddo, in that of Forlì-Cesena, the small village of Monteleone boasts very ancient origins: the first records date back to 1233, when Monleonis boasted a privileged position on the territory, towering with its castle on the inland lands Cesena. Even today it is possible to admire it, given the excellent conditions, such as to have given it the recognition of Orange Flag of the Italian Touring Club, as a "small inhabited village, well preserved and characterized by urban furniture and well-kept green spaces". Do not miss the delights of the place. Chestnuts, cheeses such as the exquisite raviggiolo, fresh pasta first courses, including the little known spoja grossa, Mora Romagnola salami accompanied by the inevitable piadina and a glass of Sangiovese.


Premilcuore

Premilcuore is immersed in the heart of Romagna, the gateway to access the Casentino Forest Park, Monte Falterona and Campigna from the side of the Rabbi river valley. The origins of Premilcuore are mysterious, although there are several versions and legends about its foundation. In the early Middle Ages the area was under the control of the Ravenna Church, while at the end of the 1400s it was dominated by the Sforza. To date, the walled village, which was accessed only from the two gates (Porta di Sotto to the north, demolished in the past, and Porta Fiorentina to the south, still existing but retouched), preserves the medieval core almost intact, dominated by the remains of the ancient Rocca. In addition to the castle, the Palazzo Briccolani, the Oratory of San Lorenzo, the Oratory of Mogio, the Parish Church of San Martino are also worthy of note. Premilcuore also offers the Museum of the Fauna of the Romagnolo ridge and is a destination for tourists who love nature and the quiet of the ancient woods.


Portico

Portico was built in ancient times along the road that leads to Florence; already famous at the time of the Romans as a place of markets, it then assumed importance as a castle that belonged to the Counts Guidi of Dovadola; from 1386 the Florentine Republic chose it as the capital of its Romagna territories. The town almost fully retains its medieval appearance, divided into three floors: the upper part with the castle and the parish church; the intermediate one with the manor palaces of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries where nobles from Romagna and Tuscany were housed, who sheltered here due to political struggles, and finally the lower part with the houses of the artisans and the populace. Portico is the "Land of Nativity Scenes" during the Christmas period, the ancient medieval town keeps alive an ancient tradition, that of setting up nativity scenes along the streets of the town.


Castrocaro Terme

A renowned holiday resort, Castrocaro Terme has obtained the Orange Flag, an environmental tourism quality mark for the hinterland awarded in 2005 by the Italian Touring Club. Its spa of Etruscan origins was already famous at the time of the Romans. Its precious salsobromo-yodolite and sulphurous waters, the natural salsobromojodic muds, the aesthetic medicine center and the wellness center make Castrocaro a renowned and modern spa active all year round. The town experienced its greatest development in medieval times thanks to the thermal baths. The village still has an almost intact medieval urban layout and retains significant memories of its historical past. For about a millennium it has watched over the town below the imposing Fortress, made up of three distinct architectural and defensive works: the Girone, the Rocca and the Cannoniere (Arsenali Medicei). In addition to the famous Fortress, the Romanesque Baptistery of San Giovanni, the Bell Tower, the eighteenth-century Palazzo Piancastelli, the Church of Santi Nicolò and Francesco, which houses a precious work by Palmezzano, are admirable. Inside the enchanting Parco delle Terme it is possible to admire the Party Pavilion, a true jewel of Art Decò, designed by Diego Corsani with the artistic advice of Tito Chini, the result of the rationalist period that left numerous testimonies in Castrocaro and in the Forlì area.