Novafeltria, historically Mercatino Marecchia (), 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 ...

'' in the province of Rimini, in the region of

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 ...

northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

Geography

The town is 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 ...

. It is the main center of 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 ...

traditional region. It is located on the Marecchia river.

History

The town was historically known as Mercatino Marecchia. It is first recorded in 950 AD as the parish of San Pietro (on cultivated land). As a medieval market town, Mercantino Marecchia was an open meeting place, without town walls, similar to Mercantino Conca. Its position by the Marecchia river, at the meeting point of roads to San Leo, Talamello, and

Sant'Agata Feltria Sant'Agata Feltria () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about south of Rimini. Overview It is home to a large fortress (''Fortilizio''), desig ...

, facilitated its function in the local economy. The market fairs were traditionally held in August. In the early sixteenth century, the Counts of Segni from

built a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

in Mercatino Marecchia, which is the present-day municipal hall. The of Mercantino Marecchia was created on 24 March 1907 from hamlets detached from Talamello. In 1922, the town became the terminus of the Rimini–Mercatino Marecchia railway, which operated until its replacement with a bus route in 1960. The railway's construction was mainly motivated by the transport of sulphur from the mines of to Rimini. Sulphur was transported to the station from Perticara along a cableway, which measured in length and was built in 1922. The line also transported

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

mined in Secchiano, which, along with Ponte Santa Maria Maddalena, had intermediate stops on the railway. Novafeltria's railway station is still extant, and its locomotive shed is now used by replacement buses. The station included a water tank. Secchiano's railway station is also still extant, and is currently residential property. In 1941, the town was renamed as Novafeltria. On 17 and 18 December 2006, voters in Novafeltria voted to detach from the

province of Pesaro and Urbino The province of Pesaro and Urbino (, ) is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Pesaro. It also borders the state of San Marino. The province is surrounded by San Marino and Emilia Romagna in the north, Umbria and ...

, in the

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 the province of Rimini, in

. Of 6,239 eligible voters, 4,275 voters (68.5%) voted. There were 3,480 votes (82.2%) to join Rimini, and 756 votes (17.8%) to stay in Pesaro and Urbino. Novafeltria was transferred to the province of Rimini on 15 August 2009.

Notable people

* Ivan Graziani (1945–97), Singer, died in Novafeltria * Sergio Valentini (1938–90), President of SILB (Sindacato italiano locali da ballo) died in Düsseldorf * Alessandro Ahmetaj (born 2000), footballer

References

External links

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