HOTEL CASADEI · SURROUNDINGS & ITINERARIES · CASTLE OF GRADARA
The suggestive Castle of Gradara recounts, through its walls, ancient exploitations and unforgettable passion.
Rising like a green island among the Marche hills, only a few kilometers from the town of Cattolica, the Fortress is a superb example of military architecture from the 14th century.
Its construction most likely dates back to the 12th century, with the lords of Gradara, but the various feudatories that followed, among which the Malatesta, the Sforozi and the Della Rovere, embellished the internal halls, collecting different works of art, not limiting themselves only to the increase of military powers and defences.
Inside the castle one can admire an armoury, a torture chamber, and a chapel with a terracotta by Andrea della Robbia while, on the upper floor, the environments are adorned with original pieces of furniture from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was exactly in Gradara, place of fairytales with ancient flavours, that the tragedy of Paolo and Francesca took place, dead because of their passion, admirably recited by Dante in the 5th canto of his Inferno, and by Petraca, Boccaccio and D'Annunzio as well, because many wrote about their story.
Strolling, especially in the evening, along the walkways of the fortress skilfully illuminated and surrounded by century old trees, grants to those in love an incredibly romantic framework, where love and poetry, history and legend, all blend together in a magnificent landscape.
Today it is possible to visit the castle everyday from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm except on Mondays when it is open only from 8.30 am to 1:00 pm.
During the months of July and August, from Thursday to Sunday the Fortress is also open late evenings from 9:00 pm to 11:30 pm.
How to get there:
Gradara is about 41 kilometers from Marotta. Take the provincial road of Val Cesano and turn right at the Marotta-Mondolfo exit leading on to the autostrada A14. Go on the A14 in the direction of Bologna until you reach the Pesaro-Urbino exit. Turn onto the Provincial road 423 and exit at the Case Bruciate Road. Continue on following indications for Gradara.
Rising like a green island among the Marche hills, only a few kilometers from the town of Cattolica, the Fortress is a superb example of military architecture from the 14th century.
Its construction most likely dates back to the 12th century, with the lords of Gradara, but the various feudatories that followed, among which the Malatesta, the Sforozi and the Della Rovere, embellished the internal halls, collecting different works of art, not limiting themselves only to the increase of military powers and defences.
Inside the castle one can admire an armoury, a torture chamber, and a chapel with a terracotta by Andrea della Robbia while, on the upper floor, the environments are adorned with original pieces of furniture from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was exactly in Gradara, place of fairytales with ancient flavours, that the tragedy of Paolo and Francesca took place, dead because of their passion, admirably recited by Dante in the 5th canto of his Inferno, and by Petraca, Boccaccio and D'Annunzio as well, because many wrote about their story.
Strolling, especially in the evening, along the walkways of the fortress skilfully illuminated and surrounded by century old trees, grants to those in love an incredibly romantic framework, where love and poetry, history and legend, all blend together in a magnificent landscape.
Today it is possible to visit the castle everyday from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm except on Mondays when it is open only from 8.30 am to 1:00 pm.
During the months of July and August, from Thursday to Sunday the Fortress is also open late evenings from 9:00 pm to 11:30 pm.
How to get there:
Gradara is about 41 kilometers from Marotta. Take the provincial road of Val Cesano and turn right at the Marotta-Mondolfo exit leading on to the autostrada A14. Go on the A14 in the direction of Bologna until you reach the Pesaro-Urbino exit. Turn onto the Provincial road 423 and exit at the Case Bruciate Road. Continue on following indications for Gradara.