Mare d’Italia

The “Leonardesque” Canal cuts through the town and represents its central core. It was initially built in 1314 as a trade outlet for the town of Cesena. In 1502 Cesare Borgia conquered the town and called Leonardo Da Vinci to redesign and rebuild the canal. While a copy of Leonardo’s drawing can be seen in the Municipal Library of Cesenatico, the original is preserved in Paris, at the French National Library. In the first stretch of the canal there is the Floating Marine Museum , unique in Italy and one of the most attractive and photographed marine scenes of the Mediterranean.

In Piazza Pisacane, next to the stone bridge, there is one of the first statues erected in Italy of national hero Giuseppe Garibaldi. Garibaldi with Anita, his wife, Ugo Bassi and other patriots arrived here, on August, 1849; they had escaped from Rome and were heading for Venice, hunted both over land and sea by they pursuers. Garibaldi would eventually continue to fight and survive to see Italy as one unified sovereign state, in 1861.

The Parish Church of St. Giacomo is situated along Via Giordano Bruno on the west side of the canal. The building was begun in 1324 and rebuilt in the 1500s. In the church there are two recently restored works by painter Guido Cagnacci.
Opening times: everyday from 7:00am to 12:00pm and from 4:00pm to 12:00am.

The “Conserve” Square can be reached on foot as it is situated in a pedestrian area, two blocks on the right side of the canal. The “Conserve” are cone-shaped ice boxes, which were in use between the 16th and the 20th century to preserve fish. A once common device for fishing communities along the Adriatic Coast, there used to be about twenty in Cesenatico alone. Three have been recovered as evidence of the culture and the way of life of the people of this town.
Every morning on the “Conserve” Square there is a fruit and vegetable market. In summer some interesting events are held here, such as a flea and crafts market every Monday evening and a classical music review, “Notturni alle Conserve”, in July and August.

In Viale Garibaldi, on the east side of the canal, the Municipal Art Gallery hosts temporary art exhibitions. The building was erected in 1926, and served as the first covered fish market of Cesenatico.

Dominating the view for miles, the skyscraper of Cesenatico was built in 1958. The building is made up of three parts: a rectangular one facing the sea, which was once a hotel and has been then transformed into a residence; another section of 7 floors, facing Viale Carducci, and a tower of 33 floors. At the time when it was built, for several years, it was the highest skyscraper in Europe (even higher than the famous Pirelli in Milan).