Senigallia: thirteen kilometres of sand and a fortress

Distance

approx. 20 km, about 25 minutes

Good for

Beach day, dinner, market

Best time

All year; beach June to September

When guests drive to the sea for the first time, they end up in Senigallia. That is not a fallback: the town is the actual reference point of this coast.

The Spiaggia di Velluto

The nickname means velvet beach and refers to the sand: fine, pale and remarkably even across some thirteen kilometres. The water shelves gently, which makes the beach undramatic for families with small children. Senigallia has been awarded the Blue Flag regularly since 1997 for water quality.

In practice that means serviced stretches with loungers and parasols as well as free sections. July and August get busy; June and September are comfortable.

The Rocca Roveresca

In the middle of the old town stands one of the best-preserved fortresses in the region. Names known from art history worked on the fifteenth-century fortifications, among them Luciano Laurana and Baccio Pontelli, who were also involved in the ducal palace at Urbino. The building served in turn as fortress, noble residence, papal prison and orphanage.

And the Rotonda

Built on piers out over the sea, circular, dating from the 1930s: the Rotonda a Mare is the town's landmark. It began as a bathhouse, was used as a munitions store in the Second World War, and later became a ballroom. Today it hosts exhibitions and events, and people go there in the evening because the light over the water is best from there.

Practicalities

Senigallia has a lively old town with arcades, cafés and restaurants, a station on the coastal line, and the history of a place that already existed in Roman times as Sena Gallica. For an evening when you do not want to cook, it is the obvious choice.