Ninth stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023: from Savignano sul Rubicone to Cesena

The route the athletes take arrives in Emilia-Romagna for the ninth stage of the Giro d'Italia 2023: we are now in Savignano sul Rubicone, a small municipality in the province of Forli-Cesena, which is located between the gentle hills of the Romagna hinterland and the sea. An interesting fact: the only outlet to the sea is in the hamlet of Savignano a Mare with a sandy stretch of beach of just 240 metres, making it the Italian coastal municipality with the least sea water.

The city was inhabited by the Romans, in a small settlement that stood at Compito, a place along what is now the Via Emilia. The Rubicon River, linked to the famous crossing by Julius Caesar to the cry of "Alea iacta est" marked the border between Roman territory and Cisalpine Gaul. The three-arched consular bridge is still there to testify to the presence of the Empire: it is said to have been built in the 1st century BC, remaining intact for 2000 years, until the bombings of the Second World War. The subsequent reconstruction took place with its original remains. A symbol of the city, it was immortalised in the works of Dante, Pascoli and Boccaccio. Today, a statue of Julius Caesar stands beside the bridge, a copy of the one in the Capitol in Rome.

Also worth visiting is the Don Giorgio Franchini Archaeological Museum in San Giovanni in Compito and the adjacent Romanesque Parish Church, one of the oldest in the area. The library of the Accademia Filopatridi, established in 1689 and still one of the most prestigious in Romagna, holds more than 60,000 volumes, a heritage of inestimable historical and cultural value.

After an almost completely straight stretch on the flat, the athletes finally reach Cesena, a Malatestian city in the heart of Romagna. Its origins derive from Umbrian and Etruscan settlements, it was then a Roman colony and lordship of the Malatesta, the period in which it reached its peak. It was then that the Malatestiana Library was established, the first civic library in Italy still active and open to the public, and included by UNESCO in the Memory of the World Register , the programme aimed at safeguarding the documentary heritage of humanity.

Also not to be missed is the Rocca Malatestiana, one of the most imposing in Romagna, with its internal walkways, visit to the prisons, exhibition of jousting weapons and the Museum of Agriculture.

The thousand-year-old abbey of Santa Maria del Monte is beautiful, housing one of the richest collections of ex-votos in Europe and an Antique Book Restoration Laboratory. Also worth a visit is Villa Silvia-Carducci, home of the Nobel Prize-winning poet Giosuè Carducci, currently home to the only museum dedicated to mechanical music in Italy, Musicalia.

The typical cuisine of Cesena is very varied, thanks to the influences of nearby Tuscany, the Apennines and the sea, but the undisputed queen is fresh pasta: tagliatelle, strozzapreti, maltagliati, passatelli, tagolini , pappardelle and tortelli are just some of the types of pasta produced here. Certainly not to be underestimated is the famous piadina, widespread throughout the region: the most classic of 'street' dishes in the area.