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Gradara Castle

Gradara's double-walled castle, setting for Dante's Paolo and Francesca, one of the Marche's most visited sites.

  • Gradara
  • Castle
Plan your visit
Where
Gradara
Best for
Paolo and Francesca's tragedy
Allow
1 hr 30 min

Dante placed Paolo and Francesca's fatal embrace inside this castle, caught together and killed by Francesca's husband Gianciotto, and the fifth canto of the Inferno has shaped Gradara's identity ever since.

The fortress itself, built up between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, sits at the center of a feud between the Malatesta and Montefeltro families that ran for generations before the Sforza eventually took control. A double ring of walls, the outer one extending nearly eight hundred meters, survives complete around the thirty-meter keep, with a covered walkway between the two rings that opens onto views running from the hills down to the Adriatic. More than two hundred thousand visitors came in 2015 alone, making Gradara one of the Marche's most visited monuments, now managed by the Ministry of Culture's regional museum directorate.

Four things worth finding

If you see nothing else, see these.

  1. Francesca’s RoomTradition of Paolo and Francesca

    The room presents the story with a lectern and the “libro galeotto” (the book that sparked the love), a bed at an angle and the trapdoor where, tradition says, Paolo tried to escape.Noble floor of the castle

  2. The Lucrezia Borgia roomSforza era

    Decorations with planets, allegorical figures, the judgment of Paris and a fountain of youth, tied by tradition to Lucrezia’s stay here.Noble floor of the castle

  3. The keep and the torture hallMedieval

    The keep looms thirty meters above the valley and houses the torture hall and prisons.The thirty-meter keep

  4. The covered wall-walkMalatesta walls, 13th to 14th century

    A covered walkway between the two rings opens onto views from the hills to the Adriatic. The outer wall runs nearly eight hundred meters.Between the two rings of walls

Plan your visit

Everything you need before you go.

Booking
No booking needed
Time needed
1 hr 30 min
Best time
A weekday morning, before the castle's popular village fills with day-trippers
Getting there
In the hilltop town of Gradara, about 15 km from Pesaro and 30 km from Rimini; a car is the practical way in, with parking outside the walls.

Walk the covered rampart between the two rings of walls: it is the least crowded part of the visit and gives the clearest sense of the hills-to-sea view Gradara commands.

Official website
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Good to know

How long should you spend at Gradara Castle?

About an hour and a half for the castle rooms, the keep and the wall-walk. Add time to wander the walled village, which is part of the experience. Go on a weekday morning before the day-trippers arrive.

Did Paolo and Francesca really live at Gradara?

Local tradition places their tragedy here, but Dante never names the castle in the fifth canto of the Inferno. The story is tied to the Malatesta family of Rimini, and Gradara was a Malatesta stronghold, which keeps the legend alive. Enjoy it as a story rather than as documented history.

Is Gradara Castle worth visiting?

Yes. It is one of the most visited monuments in the Marche, with a double ring of walls that still survives complete around the keep, plus a medieval village inside. It is touristy in high season, so arrive early.

More to see nearby

Same city first, then the nearest across the region.

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