Corinaldo has the best-preserved medieval walls in the Marche: 912 meters of continuous battlements with towers, gates, and a walkway that gives you a 360-degree panorama of the gentle Marche hills. The Pozzo della Polenta — a well in the main piazza with a famous local legend (a woman carrying a pot of polenta tripped and fell in — the story became a comic tradition, re-enacted annually) — and the beautifully preserved centro storico climbing from the piazza to the citadel make Corinaldo a textbook medieval borgo. The town is the birthplace of Santa Maria Goretti (1890-1902), the child martyr canonized in 1950, making it a pilgrimage site. And: the Festa delle Streghe (Festival of Witches) in October — a week-long Halloween celebration that predates American trick-or-treating by centuries, with costumes, magic shows, and the town lit by torches. Marche →
Plan my Marche trip →The walls: Walk the full 912-meter circuit — towers, arrow slits, and views over the Le Marche countryside. The Piaggia (100-step staircase ascending from the lower town through the walls to the piazza) is the dramatic entrance. Pozzo della Polenta: The well in the main piazza — the legend is told in a comic mural nearby. The centro storico: Piazza Il Terreno (the main square), the civic tower, baroque churches (Chiesa del Suffragio with Claudio Ridolfi paintings). Casa natale di Maria Goretti: The house where the saint was born — simple, preserved. Festa delle Streghe (late October): The entire town transforms — witch costumes, bonfires, theatrical performances, magic shows, and medieval-style street food. 60,000+ visitors over the festival weekend.
Getting there: car from Senigallia (20min), Ancona (40min), Jesi (20min). Free to walk walls and town. Duration: 1.5-2 hours. Eat: local trattorias (€18-28 — olive all'ascolana, vincisgrassi, crescia). Combine with: Senigallia (20min — beach, Rotonda a Mare), Urbino (45min), Jesi (20min — Verdicchio wine), Fano (30min — Roman arches, carnival).