According to the town’s tourist brochure (reproducing a quotation from Umberto Eco), this is the most beautiful city of the entire Italy! Who could resist the temptation of visiting this highly recommended place? It is located in a distance of 100 km from Rimini and although Eco’s praise is a bit overstated, San Leo once known as Montefeltro deserves at least a half-day visit. Besides it has in the past also been capital of Italy!
To start with, arriving there is quite an adventure! It is better to leave your motorhome in the bus parking [43.8962,12.35066] under the Fortress (or the Rocca). From there, it is a ten minutes walk to the town’s gate, passing through a narrow street with absolutely no sidewalk or the minimum space for pedestrians! Just be very careful…
In fact, despite the signs prohibiting campers from entering the village, inside the gate there is an area reserved for campers (!) but currently it is not accessible due to a landslide.
Once in the village it is difficult to get lost. The entire tour consists of visiting two churches and walking through the narrow, picturesque streets. Ιf there are no scheduled events, there is not much else to see besides the fortress.
The day of our visit, a presentation or display or show (or whatever) of the Ferrari 488 Sprider was orginased; I must admit that it is always a pleasure to take a close look at a Ferrari, even better if the background is the square of Saint Leo!
Αfter this unexpected surprise, we went up to the fortress, following the steep though thankfully short path. For those who prefer comfort instead of exercise there is a shuttle to the Rocca from Piazza Dante. The timetables are displayed at the bus-stop, but the service is not very frequent and it costs a euro each way.
The admission is quite expensive: € 9 per person, with discounts for children / students / over 65, but at least the audio guide is free.
Apart from the undeniable beauty of the fortress and its perfect conditions, it is particularly interesting to find out details about the mysterious personality of Cagliostro. The Italian occultist was dead there, sentenced to life imprisonment by the church.
In addition to the cells and the history of Cagliostro and Freemasonry, you can see the halls of Malatesta and Montefeltro, a museum of weapons and a gruesome display of torture instruments.
