The best running trails around Montiano

Nice climb. Pleasant ride. Little traffic. Good road surface. Picturesque scenery.

Always worth a visit, from the castle square you have a splendid view, you can see the sea from Rimini to Ravenna

Beautiful hamlet at the top of a beautiful climb

The first news about the castle dates back to around the year one thousand. Subject to the control of the Archbishops of Ravenna, in 970 it was granted as a fief to Rodolfo, Count of Rimini. During the 12th century, with the rise to power of the Malatesta family, from the Guelph side, the castle of Sorrivoli, like most of the surrounding territories, also found itself under the control of this powerful family, and more precisely of the Malatesta branch of Sogliano . Subject in this period to the episcopate of Cesena, in 1290 it was reattributed to the archbishopric of Ravenna. What is certain is that in 1371, at the time of the census carried out by card. Anglico Sorrivoli was a possession of the Church of Ravenna and had "40 hearths". Enfeoffed in the 15th century to the Roverella family of Cesena, it remained under the control of this family until the extinction of the lineage, then passing to the Allocatelli Fabbri and after the Second World War to the parish prebend.

and exact origins are not documented, it can be hypothesized that around the year 1000 the locality was a possession of the Ravenna church. For years disputed between the Church and the municipality of Rimini, a first fortified tower was probably built in the 13th century. The first real fortress, built by the municipality of Rimini, dates back only to the 14th century. Possession of the Malatesta family until 1335, it was conquered by Francesco degli Ordelaffi, lord of Forlì and subsequently ceded to the Montefeltro family, to then return under the control of the Holy See and subsequently in 1433 again of the Malatesta family. In 1485 it returned to the control of the archbishop of Ravenna and was enfeoffed to the Roverella family of Cesena who held it until 1745. Important expansions and the transformation from a castle to a summer residence date back to this period, and at the same time the construction of homes on the ancient wall circuit was encouraged, demolishing the previous ones closest to the palace and creating the hanging garden in their place. The Roverellas were succeeded in 1745 by the Guiccioli, a family that held the castle until 1960, the year in which it was sold to the current owners, the Volpe counts.

characteristic passage

We go up towards Monteleone, a small hamlet of Roncofreddo with only 34 inhabitants, 364 meters high and an orange flag. The medieval village arranged in a crescent shape is very small and the castle which has been transformed into a country residence since the 18th century is characterized by an access ramp covered in grass. Monteleone was a fiefdom of the Malatesta family, subsequently the castle was the property of three families: the Roverellas until 1745, the Guicciolis until 1970 and finally the Volpes. Today the square is named after Lord Byron, an English poet, due to the events that united him with Teresa Gamba, wife of Count Guiccioli, owner of the castle. Byron was in Italy from the spring of 1819 as a servant knight to Guiccioli's wife, following her in various residences: Venice, Ravenna and Monteleone. The letters, preserved in the Classense Library in Ravenna, testify that there was an intimate relationship between the two. Byron was also a friend and involved in the Carbonari activities of Teresa's brother, Pietro Gamba: the two left Liguria together to go and fight in Greece for the war of independence. Byron remains an important traveller. It was he who coined the concept of the "fatal gift of beauty", that is, the impact that Italy has on the senses to such an intensity that it blurs vision and confuses critical judgment.

An imposing fortress overlooking Piazza Maggiore, the Castle of Montiano has a heart-shaped layout and mighty walls. It can be accessed from the west side, via a large ramp that leads to a small wooden door.