Corinaldo: 912 metres of town wall and a well full of polenta

Distance

approx. 15 km, about 20 minutes

Good for

Half a day, dinner

Special

Contesa del Pozzo della Polenta in July

Corinaldo belongs to the Borghi più belli d'Italia, carries the Touring Club's Orange Flag and has been recognised as a European destination of excellence. You see why on arrival: the village is still entirely enclosed by its wall.

The wall

912 metres long, essentially late fourteenth century. After the town was destroyed, Pope Urban V authorised its complete reconstruction in 1367: the result counts today among the best-preserved town fortifications in central Italy. Much of it can be walked.

The hundred steps and the polenta well

From the lower gate the Piaggia climbs up, a staircase everyone simply calls the hundred steps. Halfway up stands a well, and on that well hangs the story that made the place known.

As the legend goes, a peasant was hauling a sack of cornmeal up the stairs, sat down on the rim of the well to catch his breath, and fell in, flour and all. He called for help; his fellow citizens called back that he should not despair but make a fine polenta for everyone. It was eaten the next day, at a considerable feast.

It is still re-enacted every July as the Contesa del Pozzo della Polenta, one of the oldest historical festivals in Le Marche. And the inhabitants call themselves the madmen, with some pride.

Why it is worth it

Corinaldo is small enough to see in an afternoon and complete enough not to feel like a stage set. As a first impression of how the villages here work, it is the best entry point, and it is closer than anything else.