Montone Valley

From the green San Benedetto in Alpe to the blue of the Adriatic, along the course of the Montone river there are some villages of great historical and cultural interest. We are located in the so-called Tuscan Romagna, a perfect meeting between two territories that stand out for the extraordinary fusion of history and nature, with natural springs, thermal waters and precious treasures, in a gentle up and down of hills, woods and hills.

The first centres that welcome the visitor on the way to the sources of the Montone are Terra del Sole, a Medici town and a rare example of a sixteenth-century fortified citadel; and Castrocaro, a famous spa that retains its medieval heart, enclosed by two fortified circles dominated by the Rocca. Continuing on, you reach Dovadola, where the castle road climbs to the ancient fortress of the Guidi dynasty.

The scent of the mountains becomes stronger and stronger and the vegetation gradually changes: the road becomes more winding, and the valley narrows. Dominated by the ruins of its medieval fortress, Rocca San Casciano is the largest centre in the area, not far from the village of Portico di Romagna, which almost entirely preserves the layout and the features of the fortress walls.  Continuing on, you come to San Benedetto, built around the year 1000 from the Benedictine monastery, of which the crypt of the eleventh-century church and the ruins of a cloister still remain. From the village, with a two-hour walk through the woods, you can reach the splendid Acquacheta waterfall, mentioned by Dante in the sixteenth canto of the Inferno.

The entire valley is an ideal destination for those who love good food and wine tourism, thanks to the fertile soils of Tuscan-Romagna and the centuries-old knowledge that, over time, has given life to unique specialties and flavours.