Cesenatico

Cesenatico
—  Comune  —
Comune di Cesenatico
Cesenatico Location of Cesenatico in Italy
Coordinates: 44°12′00″N 12°23′40″E / 44.2°N 12.39444°E / 44.2; 12.39444Coordinates: 44°12′00″N 12°23′40″E / 44.2°N 12.39444°E / 44.2; 12.39444[1]
Country	Italy
Region	Emilia-Romagna
Province	Forlì-Cesena (FC)
Frazioni	See list
Government
- Mayor	Roberto Buda
Area
- Total	45 km2 (17.4 sq mi)
Elevation	3 m (10 ft)
Population (December 31, 2005)
- Total	24,104
- Density	535.6/km2 (1,387.3/sq mi)
Demonym	Cesenaticensi
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	47042
Dialing code	0547
Patron saint	St. James Apostle
Saint day	July 25
Website	Official website

Cesenatico is a port town with about 20,000 inhabitants on the Adriatic coast of Italy. It is located in the province of Forlì-Cesena in the region of Emilia-Romagna, about 30 km south of Ravenna. Cesenatico's port canal was surveyed and drawn by Leonardo da Vinci at the request of Cesare Borgia, as part of his plans to fortify the nearby town of Cesena.

The canal of Cesenatico.

History

Cesenatico was founded in 1302. It was considered part of the city of Cesena until it was incorporated at the beginning of the 18th century. Its port and canal were built in 1500, with the canal originally planned to reach Cesena, some 15 km inland. At the request of Cesare Borgia the canal was later surveyed by Leonardo da Vinci. It is often claimed erroneously that da Vinci designed the canal. In 1722 James Francis Edward Stuart (the 'Old Pretender' to the British throne) stayed in Cesenatico's Capuchin monastery.

Main sights

Today Cesenatico is a popular tourist resort. It is home to the Marine Museum (Museo della Marineria), where historic fishing boats are displayed in the canal. The town also features a 118 m high skyscraper, which for a few years was among the thirty highest buildings in Europe.^[2]

Notable people

Cesenatico is the hometown of cookbook author Marcella Hazan, the soccer player Giorgio Ghezzi, and cyclist Marco Pantani (to whom a monument is dedicated here). It is also home to a historic Catholic church where regular mass services are held.

Events

Cesenatico hosts every year the final stage of the Italian Mathematics Olympiad, a mathematical battle of wits between the best 300 high school students in Italy. It is usually held in the week-end following the first Thursday of May.

Cesenatico holds the Annual "Marco Pantani Nove Colli" cycling road event across nine of the Apennine foothills in May of each year. Other events associated include the Nove Colli Off Road and Junior Event in September each year.

Frazioni

Bagnarola, Borella, Cannucceto, Sala, Valverde, Villalta, Villamarina, Zadina.

Sister cities

The town is twinned with:

• Aubenas, France
• Delfzijl, Netherlands
• Schwarzenbek, Germany
• Sierre, Switzerland
• Zelzate, Belgium

External links

• Official site (Italian)
• Cesenatico's official tourism info (English) (Italian)
• Official hotel booking site by local tourist office IAT (English) (Italian) (German)
• Cesenatico Marine Museum
• Cesenatico Webcam by Municipality Site
• Cesenatico Webcam by Romagna on Web
• Coat of arms from crwflags.com
• Cesenatico's entry in A Jacobite Gazetteer
• Italian Mathematical Olympiad official site (Italian)
• Cesenatico's sailing association by Congregavelisti.it

Sources

1. ^ "The World Gazetteer". http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?men=gpro&des=gamelan&geo=483139239. Retrieved 2007-02-23. 
2. ^ http://www.geography.wisc.edu/archiveNews/2009/images/huffman-map-large.png