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Description:
The fortress is located in the town centre of Cesena, very close to Piazza del Popolo. It rises at the top of the Garampo hill and is surrounded by the Parco della Rimembranza (Remembrance Park). This impressive fortress is characterized by panoramic battlements and striking walkways built within the curtain walls. The court also hosts a citadel that includes two imposing buildings, the Main or Male tower (Mastio), where some genuine tournament armours and saddles that were used for the Giostra d’incontro are exposed, and the Palatium or Female tower, were the Museum of Agricultural History is located.


The construction works of the stronghold started in 1380 with Galeotto Malatesta, and continued with his successors Andrea and Novello Malatesta, the fortress was entirely renovated and completed in 1477 during the papal dominion.
The fortress is part of a much larger fortification system that surrounds the town, a system that fascinated Leonardo da Vinci when, in the summer of 1502, he stayed in Cesena to inspect and overhaul the conquered jurisdictions forts and improve the town defence, upon request by Cesare Borgia.
Some of his drawings of the Fortress (the walls of the Rocca Vecchia and the Rocca Nuova, and the Rastelli - the stockade and the main gate, the complete evaluation of the town walls, his notes on the customs and traditions of Romagna recorded on his notebook, are kept at the library of the institute of France in Paris. 

Accessibility:
By bike (hard), motor-bike and car (difficulties of parking).


Further informations