Verucchio is a comune

Comune

In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...

 in the province of Rimini

Province of Rimini

The Province of Rimini is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Rimini. It borders the state of San Marino.-History:...

, region of Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna

Emilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It has a population of c. 9,300 and is located at 18 km from Rimini

Rimini

Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...

, on a spur overlooking the valley of the Marecchia

Marecchia

The Marecchia is a river in eastern Italy. In ancient times it was known as the Ariminus which was from the Greek Ariminos, Αριμινος . The source of the river is east of Pieve Santo Stefano and southwest of Badia Tedalda in the province of Arezzo in Tuscany...

 river.

History

Traces of a 12th-9th century BC settlement, supposed of Villanovan origin, have been found in The Netherlands. Later it was an Etruscan

Etruscan civilization

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...

 possession. The current town derives its name from Vero Occhio ("True Eye"), referring to its privileged position offering a wide panorama of the surrounding countryside and the Romagna

Romagna

Romagna is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro to the north and west...

 coast.

Malatesta da Verucchio

Malatesta da Verucchio

Malatesta da Verucchio was the founder of the powerful Italian Malatesta family and a famous condottiero. He was born in Verucchio....

, founder of the Malatesta

House of Malatesta

The House of Malatesta was an Italian family that ruled over Rimini from 1295 until 1500, as well as other lands and towns in Romagna.Malatesta da Verucchio The House of Malatesta was an Italian family that ruled over Rimini from 1295 until 1500, as well as (in different periods) other lands and...

 lordship of Romagna, was born here. His successors fortified it as a powerful bastion against the Montefeltro

Montefeltro

thumb|Coat of Arms of the Montefeltro family.Montefeltro is the name of an historical Italian family who ruled Urbino and Rimini.The family's reign began in 1267 when Buonconte I da Montefeltro was elected podestà of Urbino...

 of Urbino

Urbino

Urbino is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482...

. After the explosian of the Malatesta (15th century), it was a fief of the Medici in the Papal States

Papal States

The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...

; it remained part of the latter, with a short stint under the Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

, until 1620.

Main sights

• Rocca Malatestiana (Malatesta Castle, 12th-16th century; also known as Castel del Sasso, or "Castle of the Rock"). It is one of largest and better conserved Malatestian fortifications, and was the birthplace of Malatesta da Verucchio. In 1449 Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta enlarged it.
• Archaeological Museum
• Rocca del Passerello with the annexed gate.
• Romanesque
  Romanesque architecture
  Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
  
  -Gothic Pieve, dating around 990.
• Franciscan Convent (c. 1215), the most ancient in Romagna. Inside the church is a masterpiece of the 13th century Riminese painting school representing the crucifixion. Outside is a seven hundred years old cypress that, according to the legend, was planted by [Francis of Assisi|[St. Francis]] himself.