Bellaria Igea Marina is an ancient fishing village that since beginning of the ‘900 became a destination for tourism. The oldest evidences tell us about Bellaria in 1359 as a fortified farm placed under the rule of the Malatesta Family and later became part of the Papal States that, in order to counter the invasion of coastal Turkish pirates, built several watchtowers along the seashore between Bellaria and the Tavollo river, to defend the inhabitants. After the monitoring function, the Saracen Tower for a certain time became a sort of sanatorium where sick people on suspicion of contagion, arriving with ships on site for commercial traffic, were quarantined. In more recent times the tower has housed the barracks of the Guardia di Finanza and at the present time a beautiful collection of seashells. The cured beaches, the sea awarded with the coveted Blue Flag for environmental quality, the pedestrian areas of the Platani Island in Bellaria, the first major urban intervention on the Adriatic coast, and of the Ennio and Ovidio roads in Igea Marina, ideal places for shopping and cocktails, make of Bellaria Igea Marina the ideal place for those who decide to spend a holiday between sea and nature. Starting from the center of Igea Marina you can enter one of its beautiful natural parks, such as Gelso Park, one of the largest urban parks on the Adriatic coast. Rich with a varied vegetation, Gelso Park is home to several thematic areas and documentation centers.
For those who want to explore the area on two wheels, from the center of Bellaria you can enter the beautiful Park on the Uso – the river adjacent to Rimini – which offers beautiful pedestrian paths that reach San Mauro Pascoli, through the Church of Saint Margaret, one of the oldest places of Bellaria Igea Marina, through Benelli Castle, and crossing Bordonchio Church and the Red House, summer residence of the writer Alfredo Panzini now seat of the Panziniana Academy, all together a path that winds along 6 km .
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