| The imposing 14thC walls which enclose the town
(some of the best preserved in the Marche region), with their crenellated
battlements and bristling towers, are one of the most striking landmarks
to be seen from the northern Marche coastal strip.
 From
the main car park, the single main street heads gently up through
the city gates to the fortress at the higher end of the town, passing
every type of tourist shop, stocked with souvenirs to suit every
age and every wallet, if not necessarily every taste. The fortress
which dominates the town was owned by the Malatesta family. It was
here, according to tradition, that the murder of Francesca da Rimini
and her lover Paulo, the lovers immortalised by Dante, took place
in 1289.
The Malatesta family managed to keep hold of Gradara for almost
two more centuries, successfully defending it for forty two days
against a siege waged by the rival Sforza family (led by Duke Federico
of Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino) before losing it to them in
1464.Most of the decoration of the castle was carried out in 1493
by Giovanni Sforza for his young bride, the notorious Lucrezia Borgia,
daughter of Pope Alexander VI and sister of the infamous Cesare.
The chapel boasts a magnificent glazed terracotta altarpiece by
Andrea della Robbia, though most of the crowds seem more interested
in the armoury and torture chambers.
For a good web site about both the castle at Gradara and other
fortresses in the Marche region take a look at Incastro.
Francesca da Rimini
 Francesca
was the daughter of Giovanni da Polenta, lord of Ravenna. Gianciotto,
a courageous but exceedingly ugly soldier, obtained her father's
consent to marry her. Fearing that she would be repelled by his
ugliness he persuaded his handsome brother Paolo to court her on
his behalf, posing as Gianciotto.
Once the marriage contract was signed, the real Giancotto (the ugly
one) slipped into the marriage bed, to the understandable horror
of the young bride. But, more tragic still, Paolo and Francesca
had fallen in love with each other. When Gianciotto discovered that
his brother had betrayed him, he murdered them both. Dante immortalised
the story in the fifth canto of The Inferno.
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