Novafeltria

 

Novafeltria (formerly Mercatino, Marecchia, Marcatein in Romagna) is an Italian town of 7 074 inhabitants in the province of Rimini in Emilia-Romagna. It is the seat of the Union of Municipalities of the Marecchia Valley.

 

How to orient yourself

Its municipal territory also includes the hamlets of Perticara, Miniera di Perticara, Ponte Molino Baffoni, Sartiano, Secchiano Marecchia, Torricella and Uffogliano.

 

How to get here

By plane
Rimini Airport (approximately 40 km)
Forlì airport (about 60 km away)
Ancona airport (approximately 125 km)
Bologna Airport (approximately 120 km)

By car
From the north, take the A14 motorway in the direction of Ancona, exit at Cesena Nord, follow the direction of Rome-Ravenna, continue on the SS 3BIS / E45, exit in the direction of Monte Castello - Montepetra - Romagnano, turn onto the SP 138 in the direction of Rome and continue following signs for Novafeltria.
From the south, take the A14 motorway in the direction of Naples, follow the direction of Pescara, exit at Rimini Sud, follow the direction of Repubblica San Marino, cross Cerasolo, entry into San Marino territory, cross Serravalle, Fiorina, Domagnano, Borgo Maggiore, Acquaviva, entry in Italian territory, cross Pietracuta and continue following signs for Novafeltria.

On boat
Tourist port of Pesaro (approximately 70 km)
Port of Ancona (approximately 130 km).
It is connected to the ports of Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Albania, Montenegro.

On the train
Rimini railway station, continue with the FER buses, Rimini-Novafeltria line.

By bus
Adriabus bus lines
FER bus (Rimini-Novafeltria line)

 

What see

1 Church of S. Pietro in Culto. One of the many parish churches in the valley, it dates back to the 10th century and belongs to the ancient nucleus of the city.
Oratory of Santa Marina, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. The bell tower is a seventeenth-century work, and completes the older religious building, dating back to 1191; the church is of Romanesque architecture, built in sandstone.
2 Fountain, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. Work of the stonecutters Doddi brothers from Mercatino in 1897.
3 Town Hall, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele. It was a sumptuous villa of the Segni counts of Bologna, feudal lords of the city, who built it in 1660. The building is characterized by the Art Nouveau style which is still visible today in the original furnishings of the Caffè Grand'Italia housed on the ground floor of the building.
Social Theatre. An example of Art Nouveau and Art Deco style, it was inaugurated in 1925. It retains the original ceiling with pink and green stucco.
Mills. Located along the river, they bear witness to an ancient milling activity. In part they are still active for the milling of cereals and for the production of electricity. A gunpowder mill has been restored and retains its equipment. Its production was linked to the presence of sulfur mines in Perticara.
A Novafeltria-Rimini railway line (no longer existing) was built for the transport of sulfur and gunpowder.
Sulfur - Historical Mining Museum (In the hamlet of Perticara). One of the most important and well-stocked in Europe, which documents the impressive activity continued over the centuries for the extraction of sulfur and collects archaeological evidence ranging from the Bronze Age to the Umbrian, Etruscan and Roman civilizations. It is located in the hamlet of Perticara, an ancient mining centre.
4 Adventure Park. On the mountain overlooking Novafeltria, Monte Pincio (900 m above sea level), there is a centenary chestnut grove and a vast pine forest, which hosts the "Avventura" park.

 

What to do

The municipal area is equipped with leisure facilities, including the recently restored theatre, library, disco, indoor swimming pool, gym, tennis courts, sports fields, motocross track, cycle path along the Marecchia river, camping.

 

Where to eat

Average prices
Corte del Sasso, Via Cà Gianessi n.47, ☎ +39 0541 921742, info@cortedelsasso.it.
Al Caminetto, Via Cappelli, 30 (in the hamlet of Secchiano), ☎ +39 0541 912332.
Trattoria Del Turista da Marchesi, Via Ca' Gianessi, 7, ☎ +39 0541 920148.
Trattoria Della Nonna, Via Verdi, 40, ☎ +39 0541 921152.
Due Lanterne, Via Torricella, 215 (in Cà del Vento), ☎ +39 0541 920200.
Fuori Squadro, Via Manzoni,46, ☎ +39 0541 920054.
The Park, Via della Gaggia, 7, ☎ +39 0541 922018.
Il Somaro, Via Uffogliano, 9 (in the hamlet of Ponte S. Maria Maddalena), ☎ +39 0541 923670.
La Jungla dei Castagni, Frazione Uffugliano, 145 (in Uffugliano), ☎ +39 0541 923186, info@jungladeicastagni.it.
La Locanda dei Venti, Via Torricella, 2110 (in Ca' del Vento), ☎ +39 0541 926257.

 

Where to stay

Average prices
Magda, Via Saffi, 55, ☎ +39 0541 920817, dabiordi@hotmail.com.
Pian del Bosco, Via Pian del Bosco, 151 (in the hamlet of Perticara), ☎ +39 0541 927600, pdb@piandelbosco.com.
Spiga d'Oro, Via Mulino (in the hamlet of Ponte S. Maria Maddalena), ☎ +39 0541 923008, info@ristorantespigadoro.it

Camping
Perticara, Via Serra Masini 10D (in Perticara), ☎ +39 0541 927602, info@campingperticara.com.

 

Safety

Carabinieri, Via Aldo Moro, 3, ☎ +39 0541 919500.
State Police, Via Rino Molari, 7, ☎ +39 0541 926162.

 

Physical geography

Novafeltria is located on the SS 258 Marecchiese in the center of the upper Valmarecchia, the basin of the Marecchia river that flows into the Adriatic Sea in Rimini, is located in the center of the valley between the Marche, Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions. The municipal territory also includes an exclave, identifiable in the hamlets of Secchiano and Uffogliano, between the municipalities of Talamello, San Leo, Poggio Torriana and Sogliano al Rubicone.

 

History

The municipality, called Mercatino Marecchia until 1941, was established in 1907 from the union of hamlets detached from the municipality of Talamello.

In the year 950 A.D. the first nucleus is traced back, with the church of San Pietro in cult and the oratory of Santa Marina. Chosen as a home by the Counts Segni of Bologna, who built a sumptuous villa there in the first half of the seventeenth century, now a municipal palace, Novafeltria became an agricultural and commercial center, the scene of major fairs, especially in August.

Today the town is the center of convergence of numerous economic activities of Valmarecchia. In the hamlet of Perticara, an ancient mining center, there is the "Sulfur", historical mining museum, which documents the activity protracted over the centuries for the extraction of sulfur and collects archaeological evidence ranging from the Bronze Age to the Umbrian, Etruscan and Roman.

On the mountain that overlooks it, Monte Pincio (900 m above sea level), there are a chestnut grove and a vast pine forest, which houses the "Avventura" park. The municipal area is equipped with leisure facilities, including the recently restored theater, the library undergoing renovation and upgrading, disco, indoor swimming pool, gym, tennis courts, sports fields, motocross track, cycle path along the Marecchia river, camping.

From 1922 to 1960 Novafeltria was connected by the Rimini-Novafeltria railway to the Adriatic coast.

The municipality of Novafeltria belonged to the Marche (province of Pesaro and Urbino) until 15 August 2009, when it was jointly detached with six other municipalities of Alta Valmarecchia in implementation of the outcome of a referendum held on 17 and 18 December 2006 The Marche appealed to the Constitutional Court against the territorial variation, but the latter considered it unfounded.

 

Languages and dialects

Alongside the Italian language, the local variant of the Romagna language is spoken. A notable characteristic of the market, shared with other dialects of the Alta Valmarecchia, is that it has only partially accepted the northern sound.

 

Sport

Soccer
The Vis Novafeltria football team, founded in 2011, plays in Eccellenza and the club colors are blue and yellow; the previous sports club, however, was born from the ashes of AC Perticara, at the time of the closure of the sulfur mine.