Sant'Agata Feltria () is a ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' (municipality) in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

, located about southeast of

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and about south of

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

Overview

It is home to a large fortress (''Fortilizio''), designed, among the others, by Francesco di Giorgio Martini

History

Originally, the town belonged to the Church. Over time, it became a fiefdom controlled by prominent families like the

Montefeltro Montefeltro is a historical and geographical region in northern Italy. It gave its name to the House of Montefeltro, Montefeltro family, who ruled in the area during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The mountainous region includes San Marino ...

, Malatesta, and Tarlati. Eventually, Cardinal Egidio Albornoz brought the territory back under the control of the Papal States. The following period saw Sant'Agata Feltria under the authority of the rector of Massa Trabaria and then the Malatesta family, who held it from 1420 to 1463. In 1420,

Pope Pius II Pope Pius II (, ), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464. Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, ...

granted dominion of Sant'Agata Feltria to the Montefeltro family. This period also marked a significant historical and cultural connection with

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, solidified this link by marrying his daughter Gentile to Agostino Fregoso, son of the Genoese Doge Lodovico di Campofregoso, in 1470. As part of Gentile's dowry, Federico bestowed upon her the county of Sant'Agata Feltria. The son born from this union would later become Doge of Genoa. The Rocca Fregoso, a prominent fortress that is the symbol of the town, was commissioned in this period by Federico da Montefeltro. This fortress was designed by Francesco di Giorgio Martini. The Fregoso family governed Sant'Agata Feltria until their lineage died out in 1660. After the referendum of 17 and 18 December 2006, Sant'Agata Feltria was detached from the Province of Pesaro and Urbino (

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

) to join Emilia-Romagna and the Province of Rimini on 15 August 2009.Article
on " il Resto del Carlino"

References

External links

Official website
Cities and towns in Emilia-Romagna {{EmiliaRomagna-geo-stub