How about a day of relaxation in the heart of Romagna? Head to Castrocaro Terme!
Apart from being the site of a famous spa, art, culture, health and wellness, wine and food all intertwine in this charming village just a few kilometres from Forlì. Here’s why.
Start your day of total relaxation with wellness treatments. The benefits of the Terme di Castrocaro spa were already known since Roman times, and then rediscovered in the first half of the 19th century and have continued to be used ever since, due to the properties of its salsobromoiodic and sulphurous waters.
One of the features that makes it definitely worth taking a moment for yourself are the treatments inspired by wine-therapy, with which you can experience the antioxidant and detoxifying properties of grapes.
After spoiling yourself with water and wine, your next step is to languidly explore the beautiful architecture that has made Castrocaro famous throughout Italy. Symmetry, marble façades, porticoes, columns, arches, all are part of Rationalism, one of the most important artistic movements of the twentieth century, which spread throughout Italy around the 1920s and is still greatly admired today.
The Thermal Spa complex is a perfect example. The classic Art-Deco decorations make the Grand Hotel, the Thermal Pavilion and the Festival Pavilion unique. The latter in particular stands out for its breathtaking elegance. Architecture, painting, sculpture and craftsmanship merge to create an elegant and refined jewel, accompanied by the sparkling polychrome ceramics of the Chini brand made in Borgo San Lorenzo, Tuscany.
The city is dotted with myriad examples of Rationalism outside of the Thermal Spa complex. At the entrance to Castrocaro, for example, check out Palazzo Piancastelli, built in the late 18th century by Bartolomeo Conti, and later remodelled in 1938 in the Tuscan style.
Rationalism is not the only art form in Castrocaro, however. The town has an almost perfectly preserved urban settlement from the Middle Ages. For nearly a millennium, the imposing Fort, made up of the Girone, the oldest part of the entire complex, the Fortress and the Cannoniere, i.e. the De' Medici arsenals, has watched over the city below. Considered to be amongst the most interesting examples of Medieval fortification architecture, today these three defensive buildings house the History Museum.
Your itinerary wouldn’t be complete without a food stop. You’re in the heart of Romagna, a heart filled with delicious traditional wine and food like fresh pasta, green lasagne, passatelli pasta in broth, and of course, the famous piadina wrap.
The hills surrounding the city are as famous as the spa thanks to the local viticulture offering tastings of Sangiovese, Trebbiano, Albana, Pagadebit and Cagnina wines.
