Ecco Le Marche

We have written many posts about Le Marche, travelled to many hidden destinations and yet there are some places that we have never heard of! This is the case of Montegrimano Terme, whose name I read on a brochure about “Borghi più belli d’Italia” (the prestigious label that some of the Italian villages carry with pride). There was an interesting “romantic evening” organised by the association of i Borghi, and I took the chance to visit this new place.

The name terme was added to Montegrimano in 2002, after a referendum. Terme means spa, and you would expect to see them, right? Unfortunately the Terme of Montegrimano Terme are closed. The first documents attesting the birth of Montegrimano date back to 1296, when the village was freed from San Marino. Legend has it that the name Grimano comes from a Lombard name, Mons Germanus, meaning Mount Brother (to the close mountain Tassi) that was chosen by a Venetian family. Some claim to have written proof of that, while others are sure that the documents are counterfeit. Anyway, after 1296 Montegrimano was donated to the Montefeltro. It was an important and big village at the time: according to the census and the taxes that the family paid, there were about 85 families, called fuochi, living in the centre.

The look of the castle was as many medieval castles: the alleys were very narrow and concentric and the drawbridge used to be on the same spot of what is now the main entrance. The location of the castle was very strategic: in fact, the Malatesta and Montefeltro fought for it for many years during the 15th century. The Torre Civica was built during these times and it was used mainly as a lookout tower (the bells were added in the 17th century, and lastly the mechanic device).

Nowadays, the Civic Tower hosts temporary exhibitions and three reading rooms. Montegrimano Terme is indeed the ” paese del bookcrossing” – the bookcrossing village. All around the centre there are twenty book-crossing points built as pink wooden houses houses. A panoramic walk was inaugurated around the walls surrounding the village in June 2014 where also pink benches were added.

Not to miss is the church (that looks hardly as a church) on the main square, and the astronomical observatory that is located at 536m a.s.l. on top of Monte San Lorenzo. The astronomic observatory structure has a dome with telescopes in it and a meeting room with multimedia tools. It is usually open on the first and third Friday from 9.30pm, and the entrance is on donations. Check by email with the volounteers managing it, because it may be close due to bad weather conditions ( gadlf@rimini.com ).

I’ve also made a video about Montegrimano Terme:


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