Winter means cold, freeze and snow. It is not really the right time to visit a sea town. But this is what I like most: in summer the coast towns of Romagna (from Cattolica to Ravenna) are crowded with thousands of people and you don’t even see the town in itself, and sometimes you don’t feel like doing that, but just lay down near the sea, catching your tan and tasting a good Piadina.
But some of these towns do live in winter too, and they offer you the chance to visit them with more awareness and a quite mood, letting you taste every single spot. I happened to visit Cesenatico with a professional and very cool guide, together with a little group of people, last december. And it was really very different! The visit was organised by Amphora, a group of touristic guides with whom I work with!
Meeting point in front of San Giacomo Church, 17 pm. No daylight, a keen cold air, but just the dim lights of the channel with its old boats, telling some old seafaring histories!
Cesenatico was founded by the romans (sometimes I guess which italian town has another origin!) who, marching up from Rimini, conquered all the land around.A very rich land actually, full of mud to make bricks and many other materials for one century.
There are still some ruins not visitable, unfortunately. But the village became a very strategic place later after in the middle age: Ordelaffi family, living in Forlì (and Cesena too) decided to have a commercial harbor and created one in Cesenatico.
Leonardo da Vinci visited Romagna some years later to study and better the defensive system of this region, which was one of the most troubled at that time. The famous design he took from the highest tower of the fortress (now a parking place) make you understand some more! His system to avoid harbor silting was built only five centuries after!
San Giacomo worth a little visit, so enter to see Cagnacci’s picture, and then go aout again to the main square where you can learn another piece of Cesenatico history: Garibaldi square honours the passage of the 2 worlds’ hero, escaping from Rome to Venice and unfortunately forced to go back!
Before going to the “conserve” have a stroll along the port channel and have a look to the typical and coloured house (once the fishman ones) and to the many shops and restaurants (do not ask me for and advise, the quality here is really very high, so feel free to choose what you want).
A good reason to go to Cesenatico in winter? It’s Presepe on the boats. Cesenatico and it’s seafaring museum offers a huge variety of different boats, corresponding to different fishing uses: trabaccoli, bragozzi, paranza and many others!
Every boat has its own representation made of statues build with a special kind of wood: pinewood, the same one used to make boats. Dresses are made by the same fabric of the sailing canvas, covered by a wax to protect them.
Here you can see some examples!
Cesenatico is a sweet and little village, really worth a visit, both you are just strolling around or you use a guide! There is much more to see, but the time flown away! Nex time I will tell you about the Cesenatico Monte and the conserve.
Wanna read more in italian? I wrote about Cesenatico on Travel Different
Also published on Traveldudes
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Keep on writing, great job!