Most people know Rimini for its beach, but a few streets inland lies a Roman town with an arch and a bridge that are still in daily use after two thousand years. Rimini is also the city of the Malatesta lords, of Dante's doomed lovers and of Federico Fellini. Here are the facts and stories that make Rimini special.
10 fun facts about Rimini
- A Roman frontier town: Rome founded the colony of Ariminum here in 268 BC, at the edge of its territory, as a base for expanding into northern Italy.
- Where two great roads meet: the Via Flaminia from Rome ended in Rimini, and the Via Aemilia, built in 187 BC, started here and ran north-west to Piacenza.
- Italy's oldest surviving Roman arch: the Arch of Augustus was built in 27 BC to honour Augustus and marked the end of the Via Flaminia. The battlements on top were added in the Middle Ages.
- A bridge with two thousand years of traffic: the Bridge of Tiberius was begun under Augustus and completed in AD 21. Its five arches of Istrian stone still carry people across the river today.
- A Roman surgery under a city square: in 1989 workers landscaping Piazza Ferrari found the Domus del Chirurgo, a doctor's house destroyed by fire in the 3rd century. About 150 bronze and iron surgical instruments were recovered.
- A church that is really a monument to love and power: the Tempio Malatestiano was remodelled from the 1450s by Leon Battista Alberti for Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta. It was never finished, and the intertwined S and I of Sigismondo and his lover Isotta appear all over it.
- Condemned by a pope: Pope Pius II accused Sigismondo of a long list of crimes and in 1462 had effigies of him burned in Rome.
- Fellini's hometown: Federico Fellini was born in Rimini in 1920, and his film Amarcord is based on memories of his youth here. The Fellini Museum opened in 2021 in Castel Sismondo and the Fulgor cinema.
- A seaside pioneer: Rimini's first bathing establishment opened in 1843, and the Grand Hotel, which Fellini filmed and loved, followed in 1908.
- A legend on the river: the Bridge of Tiberius is also called the Devil's Bridge. Legend says the devil built it in exchange for the first soul to cross, the townspeople sent a dog, and the furious devil left marks that people still point out on the stone.
The story of Paolo and Francesca
Rimini's most famous story comes from Dante's Inferno. Around 1275 Francesca da Polenta of Ravenna was married, for political reasons, to Giovanni Malatesta, known as Gianciotto, the lame son of the lord of Rimini. She fell in love with his younger brother Paolo. Dante has Francesca tell how the two were reading the tale of Lancelot and Guinevere together when they kissed for the first time. Gianciotto found them and killed them both, probably in the 1280s. Dante, who knew the families, met the lovers in the second circle of Hell, swept along forever by a storm of wind. Several castles in the region claim to be where it happened, but the story has made Francesca da Rimini a heroine of operas, paintings and poems ever since.
Piazza Tre Martiri, explained
Piazza Tre Martiri stands on the site of the Roman forum, where, according to tradition, Julius Caesar spoke to his soldiers after crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC. The square is named after three young partisans hanged here by the Nazis in August 1944. On one side stands the small octagonal Tempietto di Sant'Antonio, which recalls a legend: St Anthony of Padua is said to have held up the Eucharist before a doubter's mule, which knelt in front of it. The clock tower on the square was later fitted with a perpetual calendar.
What to eat in Rimini
- Piadina romagnola: thin flatbread cooked on a griddle and folded around ham, cheese or greens. It has had EU protected status since 2014.
- Squacquerone: a very soft, fresh cheese from Romagna, the classic filling for piadina with rocket and figs.
- Passatelli: thick strands of breadcrumbs, egg and Parmigiano pressed through a special iron and cooked in broth.
- Strozzapreti: hand-rolled pasta twists whose name means priest-stranglers, often served with sausage or seafood.
- Sangiovese di Romagna: the region's everyday red wine, good with grilled meat and with piadina.
Good to know before you go
- Cross the Bridge of Tiberius to Borgo San Giuliano, an old fishermen's quarter with murals inspired by Fellini's films.
- The Tempio Malatestiano is Rimini's cathedral and an active church, so visits pause during services.
- The Domus del Chirurgo is part of the city museum complex. Check opening days before you go.
- San Marino makes an easy day trip by bus from Rimini station.
Explore Rimini with World City Trail
Our Rimini scavenger hunt turns these sights into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around two hours, with about 34 minutes of walking, and leads you past the Arch of Augustus, the Tempio Malatestiano and Piazza Tre Martiri.
At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace. You can start whenever you like.
Play the Rimini scavenger hunt →
Facts checked in October 2026.