Venture back from the Riviera romagnola, and you will discover gentle hilly landscapes and charming old towns where time seems to stand still. Among them is the imposing and majestic San Leo. Situated 35 kilometres far from Rimini, this fairy-tale village stands on a rocky cliff overlooking the surrounding valley. Reaching San Leo by car, you will probably have the feeling to be in a wonderfully familiar place.

Its mighty fortress, perched on a limestone cliff 583 metres high, gives this village the unmistakable silhouette similar to some fantasy book illustrations. A land of conquest for many feudal powers, San Leo boasts a past as the capital of Italy (under Berengario II’ kingdom) and over the centuries has welcomed (and sometimes imprisoned) illustrious and charismatic figures of Italian history, like Dante Alighieri, St Francis of Assisi, the legendary Count Cagliostro and the revolutionary Felice Orsini.