Novafeltria

Live energy.  An energy of commerce, industry and the desire for renewal, which identifies this town even by its name: Novafeltria (“Nova” means new),  a new city in the ancient region of Feltria.
Once called Mercatino Marecchia, the city - founded in the early twentieth century - was chosen as the site for large weekly fairs. The hunger for the future and the commercial vocation are reflected today in the role that Novafeltria plays, as the neuralgic centre of the valley’s economy.

The industrial tradition has left an unmistakable impression on the recent history of this territory, characterised by an intense mining activity.  Europe's largest sulfur mine in the hamlet of Perticara began in the twentieth century giving rise to an immense underground city, developed in over 100 kilometres of tunnels. The historic sites of thenow disused mines from the late sixties can now be explored thanks to the Sulfur Museum, an innovative example of industrial archeology. The original Vittoria shaft, a symbolic crossing between two very different spaces, connects the city to its most hidden alter ego.

If the belly of this territory reveals the mining past, the primitive face of its lands expresses the signs of a lively natural beauty: pine groves, chestnuts forests, spectacular rock faces, are located in the area surrounding Perticara and represent an ideal destination for rock climbers or lovers of mountain climbing. 

The energy, the real motor of the local spirit, is also distinguished by the sport activities that are practicable here: climbing; paragliding, hang gliding; there is even a Sky Park for adventure lovers of any age; the Zoo Park is for the tireless explorers of the precious local flora and fauna. There are many sports facilities available such as indoor swimming pools, gyms, tennis courts, soccer fields, multi purpose sports centres, motocross tracks and horse riding facilities . Last but not least, there is the cycle/walking path that connects the whole valley. The route runs along the banks of the river, crossing the countryside and, from Novafeltria, reaches Rimini.

Novafeltria is not only industry however: the history of the area is rooted in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. An epoch that left Novalfeltria with the elegant Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, the seventeenth-century “Palazzo dei Conti Segni”, now the seat of the Town Hall, and the Oratorio di Santa Marina, a precious Romanesque jewel.

The dignified and laborious energy of this city inspired the ballads written by the author Ivan Graziani, who spent much of his life here.