Montegridolfo

Montegridolfo (Mun't Gridòlf in Romagna) is placed between the Valconca and Leaf Valley, on the border between Emilia Romagna and Marche. Always border land, Montegridolfo knew in the course of the centuries and the influence of the duchy of Montefeltro and that of the Malatesta family, so much so that in the course of the years the Malatesta formwork was the object of clashes and military disputes. And it is precisely for this peculiarity defensive Montegridolfo was designed and built as "cassero", a village with a rectangular plant equipped with a tower placed in reinforcement of the wall complex.

The area of Montegridolfo a time was called with the name of Monte Lauro, given the numerous laurels lush that covered the hill; from here its name probably derives from a word of Germanic origin (Hrodulfus or Ridulfus) that would alter the Latin word Reduvius, boorish, adjective confirmed in epoch tall medieval-according to the rustic toponymy of the period. The first reliable documentation is dated 1148, as it is certain that in 1200 it passed under the malatestian dominion. For this peculiarity of Rimini, given that Montegridolfo swore allegiance to the Malatesta against the Duchy of Urbino, was the seat of numerous attacks and military incursions that culminated in the paradoxical looting by the armies of Ferrantino di Novello, cousin of the Malatesta Family,  that with the Montefeltro destroyed the village.

The more recent history sees him inserted in the context of the history of Italy; not to forget is the trace of the Gothic Line, the line of German defense baptized in origin by Hitler "Goten Linie" ("Line of Goths"), and that it is precisely in these areas saw the unfolding of bloody clashes between the Germans and the allied troops, as the penetration of the allied troops in the pianura padana would have rendered the prendibile Germany in few months: it was precisely during the attack of the allied forces at Montegridolfo that lieutenant Gerard Ross Norton earned the Victoria Cross, maximum award British military.

The village in general represents the place of interest for excellence. Well proportioned and inserted into the sweet hills riminesi, represents an excellent integration of medieval architecture with the surrounding landscape.