The selection of the Touring Club is strict, and the award criteria include the typicality and enhancement of the identity and culture of the village; accessibility to museum and naturalistic resources, an adequate tourist offer system, as well as attention to the conservation of historic centers and the natural environment.
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 Rimini, their history and the main points of interest.
Montefiore Conca
«Then changing beasts and horses / Arimino passed the evening again; / nor does he wait for morning in Montefiore / and almost at par with the sun he reaches Urbino».
Mentioned by Ariosto in his Orlando Furioso, Montefiore Conca is a wonderful village lost in the hills on the border between the Marche and Romagna, an exceptional window on the valley of the Conca river. Its well-preserved historic center clings to the most important monument in the area, the Castrum Montis Floris, an imposing and square fourteenth-century fortress that the Malatesta family bought from the pope and enriched with frescoes and ornaments. The fortress and its castle are the main attractions of this small town, which offers wonderful views of the surrounding valley, dominated by the Faggeto and Auro mountains, a destination for naturalistic walks and wonderful chestnut woods, a source of inspiration for the Chestnut Festival, the most ancient of the Rimini province.
Pennabilli
Located near the Natural Park of Sasso Simone and Simoncello, Pennabilli stands in the center of a wonderful natural amphitheater. Since ancient times it has been a place of rest and vacation, recognized for the amenity of its welcome: a place of the soul, as it was defined by the poet Tonino Guerra, whose definition was the inspiration for the current open-air museum of the Places of the Soul, a singular "collection" that brings together seven different artistic exhibitions located between the village and its surroundings.
Speaking of "soul", Pennabilli is recognized in the world also for its Tibetan culture. In 2005 it was visited by the Dalai Lama, who donated the Lhasa bell to the community, today preserved on the top of Roccione, testimony of the mission of Father Orazio Olivieri, who started his evangelization work in the Himalayan region from Pennabilli and was one of the great promoters of interreligious dialogue between Catholicism and Buddhism.
Peculiarity of Pennabilli is the cultural richness. In addition to the museum of the Places of the Soul, the Diocesan Museum is worth a visit, which collects works and objects from the churches and chapels of Montefeltro; the Calculus Museum, which collects didactic tools and displays dedicated to the world of mathematics; and the Sasso Simone and Simoncello Park Museum, dedicated to the area's natural and faunal resources.
San Leo
In the heart of Montefeltro, between Tuscany, Marche and the Republic of San Marino, San Leo is a wonderful fortified medieval village, built on a spectacular spur of rock that ends with an imposing fortress, built overhanging the fortress. Visiting San Leo is a journey through medieval history. Its border position made it the scene of wars between the rulers of the area, the Malatesta, the Montefeltro and the Papal States, who fought over the suggestive, and well defensible fortress, whose visit is worth the trip.
Verucchio
Mentioned by Dante in his Comedy, Verucchio (with only one "r") dominates the Valmarecchia between sea and hills. It was the birthplace of the “Mastin Vecchio”, that Malatesta da Verucchio from whose loins the most warlike family of Rimini descended. Verucchio offers breathtaking views, nestled as it is between two hills, once surmounted by mighty fortresses. One of which, the Rocca Malatestiana del Sasso, went down in history for being invincible. Also worth visiting is the convent of the Augustinians with the fourteenth-century church, which today houses the Archaeological Civic Museum.