Sogliano al Rubicone stands in the low hills between the rivers of Savio and Rubicone, on the border between the areas of Cesena and Rimini. This was the beloved town of the great Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli whose sisters studied at the Convento delle Agostiniane (the Augustinian Convent); a poetry trail in his honour takes you to some of the places important to the life of the poet. Standing on a late Roman settlement, Sogliano al Rubicone was once also home to the Rimini branch of the Malatesta. Still intact is the Porta Malatestiana (Malatesta gate) at the start of the central Via Giovanni Pascoli that leads to the road for Novafeltria. Along this road, in the direction of the centre, is the former Monastero delle Agostiniane (the Augustinian Monastery, not open to the public), founded by Don Paolo Mariani in 1824, and, next door, the old Oratorio della Pietà built in 1518, now called the Chiesa della Madonna dello Spasimo (Church of Our Lady of the Spasm). When you reach Piazzetta Garibaldi, you can visit Palazzo Ripa-Marcosanti, now the Palazzo della Cultura (Palace of Culture) which houses the Raccolta Veggiani, a collection of minerals; the Collezione di Arte Povera, a collection of “poor papers”; and also the Museo della Linea Christa, a museum dedicated to the events in the places of the Linea Christa during the Second World War. Also important is the Piazza della Repubblica where you can admire traces of former glory in the early 16th century bas relief showing the Lion of St Mark, in Palazzo Maraini, now the Town Hall of Sogliano al Rubicone. More recent is the Teatro Comunale “Elisabetta Turroni” (Elisabetta Turroni Municipal Theatre), built in 1825 and reopened to the public in 1997 after radical restoration. A few paces away from the theatre is the Chiesa del Suffragio (Church of Suffrage), built about 1679 and still with some works of value, and the annexed Torre Civica (Civic Tower) which dates back to 1867. In the parallel square, Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, you can admire the façade of the former Casa del Fascio, designed in 1941 by the architect Luigi Giordani of Bologna, which has a most unusual architectural style; in the same square is one of the symbols of Sogliano: the Fontana delle Farfalle (Butterfly Fountain), the work of the artist Tonino Guerra. On the opposite parallel is, instead, the historic Chiesa di San Lorenzo (Church of St Lawrence) and the street Via XX Settembre along which are many of the ‘pits’ in which the mythical and delicious Formaggio di Fossa (“Pit cheese”) was matured. Sogliano is also on the Strada dei Vini e dei Sapori della Provincia di Forlì e Cesena (Road of Wines and Tastes of the Province of Forlì and Cesena) for its excellent Formaggio di Fossa, the Savor di Montegelli, its meats, wine and more.
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