Santarcangelo di Romagna is really a special little town: it’s enough to walk up and down the charming narrow streets of its historic centre to be ravished by the harmony this old place conveys, and be rejoyce by the friendly loco people. The heart of the ancient town, on the gentle Colle Giove (Hill of Jupiter) where the famous italian wine “Sangiovese” is born, is dominated by the massive Malatesta Fortress, extended and fortified by Sigismondo Pandolfo in 1447 and now open to the public every first Sunday of the month for organized tours.
Descending the hill you can reach the XVIIIth century part of the town where the Collegiate Church stands out just aside the defensive walls of the medieval urban settlement; inside the church you can admire a magnificent painting by Guido Cagnacci, prominent painter born here in 1601, and a wooden crucifix of the XIVth century nearly 2 meters tall. Walking down towards the city center, you enter the commercial heart of the town to reach Ganganelli Square where you can admire the Triumphal Arch erected in 1777 in honor of the fellow-citizen Pope Clemente.
Other places of visit are: the ancient Romanesque Church of Saint Michael Archangel which is dating back to the VIth century A.C.; the Romagna Folk Museum ; the Archaeology Museum and the original Button Museum, first of it’s kind in all Italy. By all means, don’t miss to visit the Tufa Caves: more than one hundred tunnels have been excavated in the tufa and clay in the past and they have always been used either to shelter people from the bombings of the war and to store food in the years after.
Santarcangelo is known as well for it’s hospitable welcome, rich in events and culture: from the century-old fairs “Saint Martin Fair” (11 November) which is the most important and well-known, to the “Floral Balconies”, a market exhibition in May, entirely devoted to flowers, trees and plants and from the “International Theatre Festival” (first ten days in July), to “Santarcangelo in Jazz” (first three week-ends in October), both loco events famous for the wide variety of street entertainments, international performers coming from all over the world and, and for the development of new musics and dances.
Santacangelo is an attractive and important little town which has kept its own particular features and has maintained strong links with its past and its traditions. The new town centre is a lively place of well-kept houses and mansions, excellent restaurants and wine bars, narrow streets leading to little squares where there is always something going on. The atmosphere is that of a large village where life has kept its rhythm and its identity; visitors at once sense a "town" atmosphere which can only be Romagna.
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